All's Well That Ends Well
by ghostdominion6
Summary: Last in a saga. The calamity trigger has led to this eventuality! A simple rebellion blooms into something more... sinister, and all of Gamindustri is forced to take sides. Witness our heroines facing the deadliest threat: themselves! See a narrator, lost and confused, torn between two very different worlds! And watch a crazed author, simply doing what he believes is right...
1. Prelude

**THE END: (Fe)Male Roar**

"Noire..."

Two figures lay on the bloodied ground of a scorched battlefield; their journeys, their long-fought resistance, finally about to come to a screeching halt. The fabled calamity trigger had led to this eventuality... The end of it all was swiftly approaching!

"N-Neptune...?"

By the end of this day, no one would be left standing.

"I-I'm sorry, Noire... T-This is all my fault... I screwed up..."

By the end of this day...

"No... This is my fault... and everyone else's, too! Y-You couldn't help it... None of us could..."

My paradise, a Heaven of my own creation, will be complete!

"I let Iffy down... Compa down... Nep Jr... Histy... You... Everyone..."

"D-Don't say that!"

As the two lovers lay side by side, vowing to stick together to the very end, a sickeningly-pale figure sauntered up to them, weapon drawn at the ready. It was a familiar figure... Terrible, but familiar.

Like Death itself, the executioner creeped up to the two goddesses with a horrific calmness. After these past few weeks, killing had become but a mere routine... and these fools were simply petty vexations at this point. Ending their lives would end the chaos...

Ending their lives would save the world.

"N-Noirey... I-I'm scared."

"... S-So am I..."

The ill-fated couple, too weak to fight any longer, stared up at the killer standing before them. They were resigned to their fate...

Nothing could save them now.

* * *

><p>"It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide."<p>

...

Greetings, one and all! Hm, or would 'Welcome Back!' be more appropriate?

Ah, who gives a crap about semantics? We have a story to finish!

... Oh, what's that? You returning readers are wondering just where the hell the 'usual' narrator is?

That's a tricky one! Hmm... Let's just say he's... finally facing his ultimate **Judgement** at the moment. He just sat through so much heavy shit that I guess he couldn't take it no more. Heh heh...

Thus, here I am, currently the only occupant in this fateful booth, awaiting the beautiful end. Oho, and let me tell you, it will be glorious!

... But... perhaps I'm getting a little too ahead of myself... Wouldn't it be much more impactful if you all had some context to this scene? Not that it really matters to me, but... it'd be more fun. ^_^

...

... Do you know what true horror is? Do you really?

Well, at least in my humble opinion, the scariest stories are not ones with ghosts and monsters and devils and slasher-movie villains...

No... I firmly believe that any type of story can be scary. You know why? It all has to do... with the characters.

True suspense, true fear, true _horror_, comes not from an enigmatic beast terrorizing asshole college students... but from seeing characters you know and love facing their mortality.

But what's even scarier than that is when you know something bad... no, horrible is going to happen to someone dear to your heart, and you can't do a damned thing to help. You know they're going to get hurt, or they're going to die... and all you can do is read or watch on with dread.

That, my friends, is true fear: complete and utter helplessness. Heh, keep that in mind...

...

Anyways, I'm sure you'd all get sick of me if I stayed around any longer, so I'm going to send you back to the beginning of this wretched tale... to show you how we made it to this point in the first place. And of course, the 'normal' narrator will be there, so no worries. If you've forgotten everything, or if you're a newcomer to these unusual tales, then I suggest you catch up now. From this point on, there's no going back.

... This whole "catastrophe" began but a mere two months ago, believe it or not... If you've read the previous installments, you should know exactly where it is we're headed, so let's not dilly-dally any longer!

Before we can embrace the beautiful new future...

... We have to look to the past.


	2. Yellow Bandana Rebellion 1: Yellow Storm

"... F! I..."

IF slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in what looked to be a confusing new world. The first thing she noticed was the thick smoke filling her lungs, followed by something solid pressing down upon her legs. Not too far away, a voice called out through the disoriented air.

"Mi... F!... IF!"

"Lady... L-Lady... Vert?" the dazed battle-hardened veteran asked aloud, recognizing the majestic voice despite her condition. Letting out a grunt of effort, she dragged herself out from beneath a large chunk of burning steel and slowly sat up. "I-I'm over h-here!" Her voice was raspy, and she spoke almost as if she were a croaking frog. "L-Lady Vert, o-over here!"

Fortunately, the goddess heard the faint voice. "IF! Oh, thank Celestia!" the busty CPU cooed, pulling the brunette in for a close hug. "Are you hurt? Can you stand?"

Iffy lightly smiled. "Y-Yeah, I think I'm okay..." She gently pulled away from the goddess and pushed herself to her feet. Her whole body was understandably sore, but she was otherwise fine. "Damn... Wait, where's everyone else!?" Her head quickly darted in several different directions. "Lyree? Nep? Anyone!?"

Vert rubbed the back of her head, also apparently still somewhat dazed. "Chika was the one who found me... I haven't seen anyone else. Finding you was the only thing to cross my mind."

A light rosy tint adorned the brunette's cheeks, but she quickly tossed aside her cliché embarrassment. "T-Thank you... Crap, we need to find 'em! They could be trapped under rubble or something!" She suddenly took out three cell phones from her pockets, sighed in relief, and then turned to run off. However, her search didn't get very far at all.

"There you guys are." A familiar stern voice called out. The two women turned to see Cave and Lyrica, both none the worse for wear. "Everyone's waiting by the wing over there. There's a few... casualties... but all of them were soldiers or recruits. Our friends are alive." Always the bearer of good news; Agathangelos would be prou... Wait, what am I talking about?

"C-Casualties? O-Oh my..." Vert gasped, a strange feeling swelling up in her stomach. Some people... died? Who? Men and women from her land? Innocent lives who risked it all for their nations? To be swept away in one single, confusing instant...

"All that's left of them is their dog tags... We can't find any bodies. The crash must've... er..."

Despite this morbid news, only one thing was on IF's mind. "Lyree!" With a rampant ferocity, she ran over to hug 5pb, her girlfriend. "Yer not hurt, right? If anything ever happened to you, I'd..." The blunette quickly silenced her lover with a soft kiss, more permanent than mere words. Cave and Vert cast their eyes away, but quickly snapped back to the situation at hand.

The SMD warrior, eyes cold as steel, placed her hand on Lyrica's shoulder. "We can save the reunions for later. For now, we must join up with the others. You remember why we're here in the first place, correct?"

Did they? Why are they here? What is going on, huh? Why, I've forgotten after all this time...

It seems IF needed a moment to think as well. She remained silent, then merely nodded her head. "Yeah, of course... C'mon Lyree, let's not hold up the others any longer."

"O-Okay!"

The four girls ran through the smoke and charred steel, the flames crackling through the air. The wreckage of the several airships stretched far and wide, and yet not a single dead body was in sight. That was either really good... or really bad.

"The hell? What's going on?" IF whispered under her breath. This had to be a dream... Seeing the twisted, wrecked steel of what had been functional vehicles a mere few minutes ago seemed almost surreal. It just didn't make any sense...

Beyond one final piece of wreckage stood the rest of the group, equally confused as everyone else (including us). It was Neptune and Noire, fiancees (for you new readers), who first noticed the newcomers.

"Wo-ho-hoah, that was crazy, huh? Feels like my butt tried jumping off..."

The brunette halted her confused thoughts in a heartbeat. "Nep!" Indeed, the ditzy purple-haired CPU was alive and well!

"Yo Iffy! Did yer butt try to jump off too?" Purple Heart nudged Noire in the stomach. "Noiwey's tried jumping on my face! Had to duck for cover."

"N-No! S-Stop saying weird things!... A-And shouldn't we be a bit more sensitive? We still haven't found everyone!"

"I just calls em like I see em, Noire. You should reall- Oof!" Neptune was silenced by a surprise embrace from the battle-hardened veteran. "H-Heya, Iffy..."

"... Glad you're okay, ya little brat... Shit, I was worried..."

Purple Heart lightly rubbed the brunette's back, her usual smile in full form. "Aw, no need to worry 'bout little ole me, Iffy! Main characters survive aircraft crashes all the time!" That's reassuring.

Everyone else who survived the crash crowded around the field. Blanc stood next to Kei, Mina held Histoire, Chika immediately ran over to hug Vert and Cave, that creep Chip (head of S.R.A.T.S.) combed his hair, and the CPUs' new bodyguards reclaimed their positions as guardians.

"Game, Shiro!" Yeah, like that guy. I'll talk about the others if the right moment ever arrives.

Huh... wait a minute? Last time we saw this group, didn't this script make a point of a certain somebody offering to help the CPUs in their struggle? Y'know... HIM?

... *sigh* CFW Brave? Surely you remember? Where the hell is...

"Hey, hold it! Where the hell is Brave!?" IF suddenly blurted out, shocking everyone around her. Whew, I wasn't the only confused one...

Histoire cupped her chin. "Brave? All our ships left before he did... I hope he didn't take a wrong turn somewhere. He couldn't fit on any of our crafts, so he agreed to find his own way here." Brave, wrong turn? Somehow I seriously doubt that... Oh well, if the script doesn't give much of a shit, I guess I shouldn't either...

Anyways, Lady White Heart ignored that random interlude and began rubbing her temples, and the boyish oracle looked at her with concern. "... You all right?"

"... No... I'm pissed, dammit! What happened to us?"

Again, there was that fateful question. There had been many, many airships (enough to move entire armies), but every single one had come crashing to the ground. That clearly wasn't some technical malfunction!

The annoying head of this operation, Chip, pat his chest. "Who cares what happened? All I know is a bunch of my agents didn't come out of the wreckage. Oh, if any of them were chicks, I'd... Grr! I say we kick the asses of the first damn people we see!"

Before anyone could either react or nod in agreement, a booming roar bellowed from the mountain range a little ways off in the distance. Vert cocked her head to the side, and squinted her eyes to get a better look. "... O-Oh my!"

"Ooh! What is it, what is it!?" Neptune peppily hopped closer to the busty goddess and also took a better look. "... Holy cannoli! It's like a herd of ants! Don't let 'em get in your shoes..."

Uh oh, that can't be good...

Slowly, each individual person in the crowd directed their attention to the mountains, where indeed, there appeared to be a massive wave of something coming down.

Only it wasn't a group of ants...

It was an army of peasants.

Chip rubbed his chin, then nodded, wearing his trademark smug asshole grin. "Hmmm... Ah yeah, I say we kick those guys' asses!"

...

**ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL**

* * *

><p><strong>FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER<strong>

That's it, we need some answers right now, dammit!

"Heh heh, the mountains are right over there. In only a matter of minutes, we'll be kicking tons of cultist ass!" the S.R.A.T.S. commander boasted, flexing his arms like a jerk.

Neptune swayed from side to side, growing restless. "Yo, are we there yet?"

"Ugh, please don't do this..." Noire sighed, resting her hand on her forehead. Two of Neptune's new bodyguards, Saturn Shiro and some sweating doofus with a giant egg, nodded for some reason, but didn't say a word.

Cave stared out a nearby window, watching the clouds move past the sun. "Cave, are you all right?" She was snapped out of her trance by the lovely voice of 5pb. "You've been awfully quiet."

IF, sitting beside the pop idol, grunted in agreement.

The warrior was caught off-guard. "I-I'm fine! Do not worry about me..." she replied, trying to avoid Lyrica's stunning eyes. "Just... thinking..."

The atmosphere in the airship was tense as the destination grew near. After several minutes of insufferable silence, Kei Jinguji looked at everyone's bored faces before standing. "... Well, I suppose we should take advantage of this time instead of doing nothing at all... Why don't we review the situation, just to make sure everyone is entirely up to speed?"

Blanc, sitting right next to her, raised a fist in the air. "Exposition would be nice. I doubt Thunder Tits even remembers why we're here."

"Hmph! Tough words, coming from a child."

"What did you just say!?"

Mina and Histoire stood as well. "Please you two, now is not the time," the tome fairy calmly said, floating over to Kei's side. Mina followed suit, opting not to chastise Blanc at the moment.

Chika, realizing her fellow oracles were all standing, frantically leapt up and joined them. "W-Wait for me! I want to deliver exposition too!" Don't we all?

Last (and certainly least), Chip claimed a spot directly in front of them all. "Right! Alright men- and all you fine, fine ladies- let's recap!" He's a lawsuit waiting to happen. "So, basic gist of it is, I'm the one heading this here operation!" With a 'manly' flex, the overcompensating man showed off his well-defined muscles. "My sexy pecs will lead the way forward!" Um, your pecs are not in your arms...

Kei shook her head, shot a quick despairing look towards Blanc, and put her right hand on her hip. "You are not the one in charge... Anyways, for the past year, anti-CPU ralliers have grown in numbers... and strength. Law enforcement seemed to overlook their crimes and general misdeeds, which includes the murder of a Lowee peacekeeper." The short-haired oracle then motioned towards the tome fairy next to her.

"Right... Now, with the firsthand experience of IF and 5pb, and the further help of Avenir's own Jade, we know the identities of the three ringleaders of the rebels: three young men by the names of Adrian, Alex, and Almaz... They started out as wandering magicians under names such as The "A" Brothers and AAA Brothers, but we believe they primarily based their operations in Lastation."

"Bleh," sputtered out Blanc, "how the hell did magicians do all this? Is everyone an idiot?"

Histoire cupped her chin. "These three boys are more than mere magicians..."

"Ooh, ooooh! They're _eeeeeevvviiiiilllll_ magicians!" Neptune hissed, waving her fingers spookily towards Noire.

"... Not far off I guess, but I wouldn't say they're completely 'evil'..." IF trailed, thinking out-loud. All eyes were now on her, causing her to lightly blush. "... The leader is the one named Adrian, and I guess he's been preaching about some goddess named 'Pale Heart.' At the show Lyree and I attended, he actually engaged HDD just like a CPU... It didn't seem like a mere trick, so it's safe to assume these guys are highly dangerous. But... more than that..." She looked down, thinking some more about a certain individual she had to "put down" almost a year ago. "... *sigh* I guess I'm the only one here who knows the truth about 'em, huh? None of you fought Arfoire back at that school, after all..."

"The... truth? Arfoire? School? Have you been hiding something from us?" Chika asked, obviously trying to get a line or two in.

"Yeah... It's, uh, kinda really complicated... B-But the gist of it all is, those guys are... Arfoire's creations, or whatever you wanna call 'em. That whole 'school incident' no one wants to talk about... well, these three were there with us, trying to take our souls via crappy seduction." Upon hearing the brunette's recap, Noire 'humphed!' in annoyance. If I remember correctly, she was the one who knocked Adrian upside the head. "... But, despite all that, I can't really call them 'evil'... They were simply doing what Arfoire created them to do. Hell, one of the guys at the school even tried acting out against her... s-so, maybe there's hope for them yet!"

Chika shook her head. "These brutes are threatening not only my precious Vert, but all of Gamindustri itself! There is no way these freaks have any redeeming qualities whatsoever! And have you forgotten already? Those three villains have a hostage, don't they?"

IF couldn't deny that. Thinking back to what occurred just a few short days ago made the brunette's very skin crawl. "... I know... I can't forgive them for abducting Compa..." She released a soft breath of air. "You're right; we're gonna show no mercy."

"That's the spirit, Miss IF," Vert smiled. "Oh, but if only Nepgear could be here... It just doesn't feel right."

Mina pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "It was for the best. If this situation gets out-of-hand, the Candidates will be safe in Lowee. Jade is watching over them as we speak."

Blanc shuffled uncomfortably in her seat; anyone with eyes could see she clearly was not at ease with that snotty aristocrat staying in her home. "How does any of that make sense? That asshole is some weak jerk-ass; my sisters could destroy him in their sleep! He can't protect anybody!" _'And he better not touch any of my books. I'll kill him!'_

"Jade is sure to have brought extra Avenir forces with him, Blanc. And besides what you may think, we have no reason not to trust him."

"Sure... whatever you say..." Yeah, she wasn't buying it, though probably only because he was a stranger walking around her castle. I don't think she knows anything necessarily bad about him...

... But we do, don't we? Jade is certainly not one to be trusted...

Leanbox's oracle crossed her arms, however. "I'm with the brat, actually. I don't like that guy... Not at all!"

As Blanc cursed Chika to hell, Kei smiled softly to herself. "We must not pass judgement on someone solely because of their gender, ladies. How about this: If Jade was a woman, would you still be distrusting?"

Lady White Heart let out an accidental chuckle. "Heh, got me there... Though, if she took one step in my room while I was gone, she'd still be dead."

The lavish-looking oracle did not share that sentiment. "Of course it wouldn't matter! That creep threatened my darling Vert, I swear it! I'll let no one get away with a crime that severe!"

"Heyuh, are we, like, even saying his name right? Like, 'Jade' can be said in two different ways, and stuff."

"Huh? How else would you say it?"

"Well, y'know."

"You can't just say something like that without a proper follow-up!"

"I kinda see where Nep is coming from. Like, is it supposed to be 'Jahd' or 'Jayd' or whatever?"

"That's mah home-girl right there! The readers might already be confused if it crossed their minds!"

"Readers? Ugh, you never make any sense!"

As the conversation drifted away from the main subject, and Chip snuck away to comb his hair, Vert sighed to herself and looked out the window. Everything looked so small from way up here... If she was down there right now, would she look just as miniscule?

Cave detected that the CPU was feeling off, but she said nothing; she was going through the same kind of ordeal.

... She just hid it better.

Regardless, they were very close to their destination now. Chip put away his comb and mirror and spoke once more. "Alright ladies!... *sigh* And other guys... We have no idea what exactly will greet us when we land, so here's your starting orders: First off, you CPUs are to join up with your designated bodyguards." He nodded towards Saturn Shiro. "I see Purple Heart's are here with us, but you three must meet with the others after we land; they're in the airships behind us." All of a sudden, the man flexed his right arm and kissed his bodacious muscles. "The rest of you are to follow any and all orders from our brilliant- and lovely- oracles. I, meanwhile, shall lead the charge! If any psycho cultists pop out, I'll keep ya ladies safe!"

"Pleasure..." Kei remarked, trading a quick glance with Lady White Heart.

Mina, attentive as she is, noticed the subtle action that flew right over everyone else's head. Without a sound, she walked over to another window and looked up towards the sky. Huh... It was much cloudier than she thought it'd be. Wasn't it supposed to be sunny all day? Damn crappy weather forecasters...

"Mina, it's going to be alright," a small voice squeaked from behind. It was a smiling Histoire, one of the few individuals Lowee's oracle thought considered her a friend... Yeah, she's going through some serious crap much like Vert and Cave. If you're just joining us, I'll give you a hint: it has a lot to do with Blanc and Kei!

"... I know... Thanks, Histoire..."

The tome fairy placed a very gentle hand on her friend's shoulder... but then noticed something off when her eyes gazed out the very same window. "Hm... Those are some dark clouds rolling in. I didn't think a storm was heading this way..."

Dark clouds indeed... Histoire spoke a little louder than she perhaps intended, and soon everyone was looking out the windows.

"Those are, like, uber tornado clouds! Hold on to your britches, ladies!" Yeah, Neptune's got the idea.

Lyrica clutched IF's and Cave's arm tightly. "D-Do you think that's a bad sign? L-Like an omen!?"

The brunette smirked at the idol. "Heh, not likely."

"We're the omen..." Cave said with a dark smirk. How is she creepier when she's trying to be funny?

The dark clouds completely blocked out any sunlight by now. "Oh my... This is going to be one hellish storm!" Vert gasped. Chika immediately cuddled close, snuggling her head against the goddess' ample bosom. Stay classy, Leanbox.

Kei, shaking her head, took a seat next to Blanc. "What do you make of this?" the boyish oracle whispered.

Lady White Heart, detecting that no one was looking, wrapped an arm around her secret girlfriend. "It's nothing to worry about. I mean, who the hell's afraid of a little rai-"

* * *

><p>A lone boy stood at the highest point of the mountain, a large book in one hand and a yellow piece of cloth in the other. Storm clouds dissipated from where they had just been mere minutes ago, a remaining slight breeze in the otherwise dry and dead air causing a lock of his hair to skirt across his face. All was silent as he watched small figures emerge from the wrecked airships.<p>

The crowd down below shuffled in anticipation.

"It's... Lord Adrian himself!"

"My lord! What is it you desire!?"

"Shh! He's about to speak!"

With a slow, dramatic motion, the boy took the yellow ribbon and wrapped it around his forehead. "... Come, my children! The tyrannical CPUs have come to silence our pleas for change; for revolution! Those vile wretches wish to snuff out Pale Heart's teachings, until there is nothing left! But... will we lay back and die? Will we let them stomp on our beliefs and further oppress us for years to come?" Adrian raised a triumphant fist high in the air. "No! Their reign ends here and now! Let us show them the power of the people! Take a yellow cloth and wrap it around your forehead to show your loyalty! Show your pride as Yellow Bandanas!"

Raucous applause, and all the peasants below wrapped their own bandanas around themselves just like their messiah already had. They were very clearly willing to die for the brown-haired young man. Too willing...

Adrian motioned with his neck, and three figures walked up beside him: his two brothers Alex and Almaz, and his hated lackey Rei Ryghts. Two nodded hesitantly, while one boy did so nonchalantly, and they quickly ran off in different directions. "Listen to my brothers and myself, and we shall be victorious! Now go! Claim the heads of the CPUs!" Loud cheers, and the boy smirked. He lifted the tome in his hands high, and his troops below instantly began charging. "Forward! The time has come for us to build... a new world! The age of the CPUs has ended; long live the Yellow Bandanas!"

...

**Yellow Storm  
><strong>

The army of deluded peasants poured down at an otherworldly pace, brandishing cheap blades most of them clearly had no expertise wielding. Still, hundreds of angry novices with pointy weapons are a clear threat. But more than that...

"Crap, what now? They knew we were coming! Some help Jade was..." IF groaned, taking out her blades from within her long sleeves.

Cave analyzed the fast-approaching enemies. "Simple citizens... How shall we approach this? We can't use deadly force, so our weapons are useless."

The brunette's face reddened at the obvious problem, and she quickly sheathed her knives. "Shit, yeah... What then?"

Not much time now... Come on guys! Ya gotta think of something!

Everyone looked towards Chip and the oracles; the scumbag looked like a horsebird about to be sliced by a raging gun-blade, and the oracles weren't much better off.

No one was pleased, but Noire was especially peeved off. "You mean nobody actually thought of how we'd fight them off!?" she shouted, looking straight at Kei.

The boyish oracle closed her eyes and held up her left hand. "... Well, we oracles are not fighters, so that's up to you warriors to figure out. I thought that was completely obvious... Hm, guess I was wrong." Wow, what an ass! "You all are strong; I suggest you toughen up and neutralize them barehanded. No wrongful deaths... unless the situation escalates, in which case, weapons may be our only chance." Yep, definite asshole. Oh well, it's Kei; is anyone surprised?

"B-Barehanded? Heyo, robo-Kei... we're a turn-based RPG, y'know? How the heck do we fight all these people without our designated weapons? You're speakin' crazy, girl!" Neptune called cautiously, not used to going out of her comfort zone in combat.

The crowd quickly moved in. Seconds left, girls!

It was Chika who surprisingly answered. "Hmph! Simple: screw turn-based! Ditch your bindings and..." The oracle suddenly sprinted towards the crowd. The first set of peasants swung their spears and swords, but the lavish woman ducked with precise expertise. She took hold of one of the spears and, with all her might, spun the attacker into his fellow rebels. Like dominoes, they fell. One remained standing, eyes wide open. Chika's brows furrowed, and she promptly leapt up and planted a roundhouse kick to his stomach. Victorious, she struck a pose with her thumb across her face and smirked. "... unleash hell! Forget the rules, ladies!"

That was that. After that surprising display of ass-kickery, the rest of the party couldn't do anything else but willingly fight handicapped.

Vert looked to Cave and IF, all three nodding as they dashed head-first into the battle. Vert cleanly dodged a sword swipe and managed to lift up the attacker by his shirt. "I deeply apologize for this, but you really shouldn't be acting out in the first place." With those "kind" words confusing the man's ears, the goddess tossed him into a few of the other approaching men.

Cave had no trouble adapting whatsoever, practically toying with the running men as if they were in an old slapstick cartoon. She tightly grasped one villager's head with her strong hand, almost like a bully would, sending a message to everyone intending to fight her. The poor guy flailed his arms and legs, trying to escape the hold, but instead succeeded at bashing a few of his teammates in the face.

IF, likewise, was in no danger. Motivated by the pure desire to save her best friend from the villains' clutches, she moved like never before. By now, Cave had grown bored of toying with the peasants, and tossed the man away, creating yet another domino-effect. This distraction provided the brunette the perfect chance to clear a way to the foot of the mountain. Everyone was busy cowering away from the slowly approaching SMD warrior, so the battle-hardened veteran took the opportunity to unleash a flurry of kicks on the unsuspecting crowd. Within a few seconds, an uncountable mass fell flat onto the earth, stunned.

The first wave had been easily defeated. "Come on! Now's our chance!" Noire shouted, somewhat irked at not getting a chance to shine.

Neptune followed up, prancing from side to side. "Let's go, ladies! Show 'em what eye-candy can do!" If you say so.

The CPUs' entire group sprinted past the exhausted villagers and towards the path leading up the mountain, the S.R.A.T.S commander forcing himself to the front. Here, the Yellow Bandanas were holed up in every nook and cranny, and like a wild beast, devoted followers were the most vicious with their backs against the wall.

They were officially in enemy territory now... The true battle was about to begin.

* * *

><p>Back at the summit, Adrian flicked through the pages of the book in his hands, "The Crucial Codes to the Way of Cheats." As he predicted, the CPUs had survived the first assault, though he was admittedly disappointed that his troops couldn't inflict even one slight wound. Nothing lost, however; he sent the most frail of his followers first. His better soldiers were either waiting to spring from caves and attack, or setting up ambushes under the aid of his brothers.<p>

Ah, an ambush... One was awaiting the goddesses just a few more clicks up the mountain. That would certainly send a clear message...

"Hwa?... Hwaa..."

A soft female voice sighed behind the leader of the rebels. The brown-haired young man slowly turned back to his cave, and saw his prisoner slowly stirring awake.

The girl brushed her creamy pink hair out of her eyes and took a groggy look around. "... Hm? Where am I? Iffy? Ge-Ge?"

Adrian sighed, and stomped over to her. "You keep waking up. It's your fault we're even in this situation in the first place!" I... think his logic is twisted there; sure, this girl being kidnapped tipped off IF and the CPUs about the Yellow Bandanas, but... well, they kidnapped her simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "You're lucky I haven't killed you yet."

Well, with an awakening like that, Compa was understandably mortified. "I-I-I-I-I'm sorry! P-Please let me go! Please!" Ooh, my... 'heart' is stinging... I can't watch her like this...

No choice for me, though; with these chains, all I can do is watch...

The villain shook his head. "No can do. Letting you go would be a sign of weakness, and I refuse to stoop to _their_ level. No... You're staying my prisoner, and I will kill every single worm that opposes me with my dignity fully intact! If the CPUs agree to give in to me, or, more likely, once they lay dead on the mountainside, maybe then I'll consider letting you go."

"N-No! P-Please don't hurt anyone! Y-Y-You can hurt me, but you c-can't harm Nep-Nep! I wwwwwwon't let you!"

Hearing the frightened nurse speak out, Adrian's face flared up with pure, unadulterated rage. He reared back his right hand, fist clenched, but another voice halted him. "Don't you dare hurt my darling Compa!"

The boy quickly jerked his head towards the ground to the right, where a small rat stood with determination. "Ugh, you too? I coulda swore that spell would keep them out longer..."

"M-Mister Mouse!" Compa cheered at her fellow prisoner's heroic entrance. Pirachu cracked a cocky smile, folding his tiny arms like he was in complete control.

"You stay away from her, creep! I'm guided by the strongest power of all: the power of love!" A leap! Flying through the air! A tail-whip...! Er... No pain on Adrian's face.

A... leg lift! A kick... Flying through the air... Hitting the cave wall... Silence...

"Well, that was pointless," the brown-haired young man said, swiping his brown pants to remove the creases. "Any other genius outbursts of rebellion?"

Compa cried out, crawling over to the now-unconscious Pirachu. "Mister Mouse, are you okay? Say something!"

Adrian threatened her with a punch yet again. "Silence, damn it! Act out again, and... you're both dead. Understand!?"

The nurse devolved into full-on sobbing. "W-W-W-W-Wh..."

"Ugh, freakin' pathetic..." Annoyed, the boy walked back outside and took in a large breath of air. "..."

He had threatened to kill the young girl... but, deep down, he knew he couldn't... Why couldn't he kill her?

... If he was struggling with this, how'd he expect to succeed at finishing off the goddesses?

... No, he couldn't lose his conviction now! What would all his supporters say? What about everyone still living horrible lives thanks to these tyrannical women?

...

What about Isara? How could he ever forgive himself for letting that poor little girl down?

Once more, Adrian turned back to the magic cheat code tome and flicked through some more pages...

* * *

><p>"Where the hell are the rest of these guys? Pretty boring rebellion..." Blanc groaned, annoyed at not being able to hold her signature hammer. "Come on... Do something!"<p>

Mina walked up to the CPU's side. "I know you are anxious, Blanc, but minimal confrontations is what we are going for. Control yourself!"

"Ugh, you're not my mom!"

A few feet behind, Kei was smirking to herself before Noire spoke up. "Hey, Kei... So, what's the plan when we catch these leader creeps? Do we imprison them?"

The boyish oracle hid all emotion from her face... y'know, the norm. "These rebels have clear intent to harm us... In fact, if magic is indeed a factor on their side, it is also fair to assume that they were responsible for several deaths already with whatever crashed our ships. Imprisonment may not be enough."

"So we're... gonna kill them?"

Kei stopped. "... I'm looking to avoid it just as much as you, but we must be realistic here. It may be the only way. It's better to take a full measure than a half measure."

It was Lyrica who peculiarly responded next. "But... what example would we be setting? I'm not saying I agree with these guys, but... this whole thing is about the CPUs apparently neglecting the people's needs! If we just kill them for speaking up, are we... solving anything?"

A fair point, and Lady Black Heart nodded. "Y-Yeah, I agree. We can't kill them, no matter what! T-That's an order!"

"What the hell d'you care?" Blanc cut in, punching the air to vent. "Kill 'em or not, these freaks will never NOT hate us. Once a sucker, always a sucker."

Kei cupped her chin with her hand, still looking forward. "... Again, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we must be on our guard; the enemy could be anyw-"

A startling rumble overtook the entire mountainside, and an explosion blared from the cliffside directly above the group. "Hello ladies!"

At once, all eyes were directed upwards. "Yowzas! Aidrey, is that you? Wait... No, this one looks more emo." Hm, so Neptune does remember what these boys looked like... Why does she act like a major dunce, then? Is her memory just astounding, while the rest of her mind... er, isn't?

The brown-haired young man, apathy in his eyes, cracked a manic smirk. "Hmm... Wait, something's missing... Where the bloody 'ell is Nepgear!?" Ah, so it is Alex... You remember: the easily-angered one who spoke in an indescribable accent?

At hearing this foreboding boy speak Nepgear's name, Cave instinctively reached for her weapon. "You won't find her."

"Tis a shame... Oh well, I'd have to kill her if she rejected me anyways." The irritable brother snapped his fingers, and a mysterious glowing orb appeared in his left hand. "You guys don't stand a chance. I'd turn back now and let us be... Otherwise, some of you may be seriously hurt."

"You really think you can take all of us? It's you guys who don't stand a chance! But... if you hand over Compa, maybe we'll go easy on you!" IF boasted, restraining the urge to throw her blades at the familiar boy's face.

He simply shook his head in the most demeaning fashion. "Heh... Sorry, but the boss won't allow that. Even I don't understand what goes on in his head... but I'm smart enough not to question it. Still, one thing before I smoke ya guys: how'd you find us so easily? I know dear little Rei spilled the beans about us, but that doesn't explain you finding this mountain this fast."

Lady Green Heart crossed her arms and smiled; as soon as she made herself known, Alex's eye twitched. "We had a little help from a boy you tried to pull onto your side. Remember Jade, from Avenir? He told us all about how you three threatened him to support you... He's been tracking your movements ever since!" The CPU's brows furrowed, and she looked the young man directly in the face. "Stop this barbaric rebellion at once! We shall always be three steps ahead of you, no matter what!"

"J-Jade told you that?" Alex felt a strange sensation overtake him. Jade... actually betrayed them? And more than that... He sided with Lady Vert?

Wasn't Jade's entire life devoted on getting revenge on Vert? The two could never be allies...

... No, none of this made sense at all! They were lying! They had to be!

Right before the situation exploded, Mina detected something strange about Alex's reaction to hearing Jade's name, but she kept to herself. Probably banking it somewhere it the good ol' memory reserves...

The situation was now taking a serious turn. "Y-Y-You... You FLAMING IDIOTS! Take THIS!" Rage returning to the apathetic boy's heart, he waved his hand that was holding the orb created by Adrian's mystical tome. Further rumbles shook the earth, threatening to toss everyone off the mountain pass.

"W-Woah... What's happenin'!?" Neptune shouted, falling on her back. Noire and IF raced to pick her up, but they, too, collapsed.

One by one, everyone was knocked off their feet... Yes, even the iron Cave lost her footing!

Oh, but that was just the beginning.

"Burn in hell, you lying witches! Bloody die already!" One final yell, and Alex teleported himself out of view. The whole mountain seemed to be coming down, and large rocks fell towards our heroines.

"Watch out, ladies!" At once, everyone in the party leapt away, flying backwards down the path. A massive boulder smashed down where they all once stood, embedding itself into the earth. Now, the way forward entirely blocked off, the rumbling suddenly stopped. Huh... well, that was lackluster.

"Is it... Is it over?" 5pb. asked, taking her arms away from her head. Indeed, nothing too catastrophic happened... What kind of shitty magic was that?

A voice echoed out, seemingly shattering the heavens. "They're cornered! Attack! Leave none of those gobshites standing!"

Neptune and Noire exchanged a worried look. "Heh, uh oh."

Screams louder than the earthquake seconds prior filled the air. From every nook and cranny, as predicted, a swarm of angry villagers poured out, their yellow bandanas giving off the visage of a yellow ocean. Relentlessly, they jumped down and ran up to the trapped party.

Blanc growled and instantly engaged HDD. "Screw this! They're not pulling any punches; why should we!?" Mallet in hand, she dashed down to meet them. "Get that shit out-of-the-way! I'll hold these freaks off!"

The other three CPUs followed suit and transformed as well, though they kept their weapons sheathed. I don't think unarmed combat will help you out, ladies, but what do I know?

The bodyguards shrugged and also joined the women they were supposed to be protecting... More on that later.

For now, the rest of the group had to deal with the daunting task of removing the massive boulder completely blocking their path.

Cave reached for her Necromancer's Wrath; if she could use those 'scissors' to blow up the very clouds in the sky, she figured a rock was child's play... Wait, what are her weapons exactly!? Looking to IF, Chika, and Lyrica (who all duly nodded), she steadied her aim...

"Hold it!"

Everyone turned to find the one responsible for disrupting the SMD Warrior's imminent rock ass-kicking. Kei sighed. "Yes!? What is it?" She was, of course, speaking directly to Chip, who still believed he was in charge of this whole operation.

The leader of S.R.A.T.S. moved towards the boulder, the crowd moving to the side to make a clear path for him. The cocky asshole cracked his knuckles and put on the biggest smirk he could muster.

So far today, nearly everyone had done something outstanding, or heroic, or anything at all really... Everyone except him, he thought. Well, that changed now! No more Mr. Nice Guy... Chip of S.R.A.T.S. was prepared to make a splash grander than anything else today! He was prepared to make history!

"Move aside guys... I got this." With one more hopefully-badass head nod, Chip struck a martial arts pose and... began pushing on the boulder with all his might!? The hell?

"W-What is he doing?" Histoire gasped, cocking her small head to the side in pure confusion.

"He's... No, that makes no sense," Mina replied, taking off her glasses to wipe them off with her sleeve.

The man dug into the large stone sphere with his hands, almost appearing to be centering his entire mass in his shoulder muscles. After a few seconds of that, his hand positioning changed; was he now trying to lift the boulder like a heavy box?

"He's... gonna hurt himself..." the brunette mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

Cave shook her head, and Lyrica couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hya! Hya! Grrrruh... Hyuh!" Back to his pushing pose, Chip curled his right hand into a fist and began wailing on poor Mr. Boulder with a flurry of hard hook punches. Guess I can't say the guy's in bad shape...

"H-Holy shit..." Kei let out a profanity, unable to hide her shock. Chika was cupping her chin with her left hand, almost as if rethinking her entire outlook on life itself...

The boulder was beginning to crack under the pressure. Dang, not much more now!

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr... Hah!" With one last potent uppercut, the S.R.A.T.S. commander succeeded at blasting the massive rock out of the ground! Heavily cracked in several places, it rolled up the mountain pass, where the walkway was much less narrow.

Cave's eye began twitching. "He did it..."

"Y-Yes, he did..." Lyrica began, wavelengths in her eyes. However, her eyes quickly widened in an emotion other than shock. "... W-Wait! T-The rock...!"

Chip was utterly thrilled at his complete and utter victory. "Hell yeah! I'm the man! Eat your heart out, ladies! Rock on! Woo!"

Lyrica looked to IF, who looked to Cave, who looked to Chika, who looked to Histoire, who looked to Mina, who looked to Kei... and at once, they all screamed: "Look out!"

The S.R.A.T.S. commander was too busy striking several stupid poses to notice the group scream. "Oh yeah, I came... I saw... I kicked your granite ass! You should know your role, Rock! Heh, know your ro- Oh my God!"

As gravity would mandate, a heavy object can't be expected to just roll uphill without stopping... After a few short seconds, the injured boulder rolled back down, intent on revenge.

Chip had just enough time to hold up his iron fists before the rock reached him. With a large crash, the man disappeared beneath the rolling stone. However, no one could deny the S.R.A.T.S. commander's strength; after getting its revenge, the rock finally gave way to its mortal wounds and smashed into many, many pieces.

"..." A collective silence fell upon the party. Where Chip had stood seconds before, there was now only a tattered red shirt and a peculiar pile of dust.

The man had indeed made a splash alright...

Down the pathway, the CPUs noticed the obstacle had been removed, and moved to regroup. Just in time, too, for seemingly thousands of peasants continued to pour out of every crevice on the mountain.

IF and Cave exchanged yet another glance, then turned to the rest of their friends. "... W-Well, what are we waiting for? Run like hell!"

And the storm was fully underway...

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the nation of Lowee...<p>

An elegant boy sniffed a white pillow and sighed contentedly. "Ah... Lady White Heart's scent! Imagining her warm body touches this bed every night... My word! To think that I'd ever step foot in the hallowed halls of her very home!"

This pervert was Jade, the boy-turned-aristocrat who had been taken in by Avenir after his sister had been horrifically... er, well, you remember, right? He's also the one who helped fund the Yellow Bandana Rebellion in the first place, and the one who holds a very strong hatred for Lady Green Heart.

... And right now, he was staying in Blanc's room, helping the very CPUs he yearned to destroy.

Two girls watched from the slightly-open doorway. "Er... Blanc's gonna kill him."

"Y-Yeah... What's he doing?"

Nepgear turned in confusion towards her girlfriend, Uni, who simply shrugged. "Just another pervert. Geez, how many does Gamindustri have?"

The two candidates ceased their voyeurism and journeyed back to what would constitute as the living room of the Basilicom. There, two children were resting their heads.

The pink-clad child leaned her head towards her sister. "C'mon Rom, Mina and Blanc aren't here! We can run around all we want!"

"I don't wanna... I'm tired."

"You're no fun. Only a wimp would be *yawn* tired..."

Nepgear chuckled to herself and gently rubbed the twins' hair. Rom smiled in her half-asleep state, and Ram grunted in feigned annoyance.

Uni flopped down on another chair and sighed. "Still can't believe they dumped us here. Didn't even let me say hi to Brave..."

Yep, for those who need a reminder, the CPU Candidates were barred from helping out with the rebellion. The reasoning? Insurance, I guess. Let's say that something horrible happens, and everyone at that mountain... well, ends up like Chip. What would happen to Gamindustri if all the CPUs were killed off? The Candidates would have to take over, of course! By hiding them in Lowee's Basilicom, surrounded by a massive new, supposedly dragon-proof wall, they were clearly safe from any potential harm (in case this rebellion stretched farther than expected).

Since he was _obviously_ on the good side, Jade was put in charge of watching over the girls, along with a few hundred Avenir-funded troops. What could possibly go wrong?!

Anyways, it seems Uni is destined to sulk over this for a while. Let's go check in with the aristocrat once again...

By now, the boy had put down the pillow and pulled out his phone. "... Hey, old man, we touched down about 30 minutes ago. All the candidates are here."

A gruff voice spoke from the other end of the line. "Good... What is the next step of the plan, then?" It was Singe, the aristocrat's adoptive 'father.'

"I'm supposed to wait for a sign, hopefully before the rebellion ends. From there, I join back up with those bitches and become the hero."

"Ah, I see... A sign from your sister?"

"... Yeah. Listen, I don't understand it myself, but why wouldn't I do what she says?"

"I'm not judging you, Jade... Just... be careful, okay? Make sure you fully understand what you're doing. If this doesn't succeed, then-"

"It WILL succeed, old man! It has to..." The aristocrat wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and spoke again. "... Anywho, how's that contraption coming along? Will it be ready soon? I'm predicting a week or two, I'll need it."

"... Er, yes! The machine is coming along fine... But, you do know I specialize in artificial intelligence, right? What use is a robot that can only operate under human control? A machine can be made to be perfect; humankind is laden with failure."

"Trust me... I know what I'm doing. Just get that done quick, okay?"

"... Yes, Jade. As you wish." And with that, the phone clicked off.

The brown-haired boy put his phone away and briefly looked around the room. He picked up a frame displaying a photo of Blanc with the oracle of Lastation. "Soon... everything will be right, Cerise. Those CPUs will die... For you, sis, I'll even kill dearest White Heart if she refuses to see things my way. Now please, guide me! Lead me to victory!" But nothing answered him.

It wasn't time yet...

* * *

><p>Hm? Still going? Ah, okay, almost done...<p>

An airship quietly approached the wintry land of Lowee... Another craft? Who could this be? Whoever it was, it appeared to be preparing to land just outside the capital's borders. Suspicious...

Either way, below, a massive figure followed the slowing ship. Hm... it's clearly not a human... No, it can't be!

"Just where are you headed? To the Candidates?"

That's... Brave!? W-What the hell!? Isn't he supposed to be at the mountain range? Why is he in Lowee? What, did he really take a wrong turn!?

... Is it just me, or has Brave been a "plot twist" like a hundred times in this saga? Guess we'll find out what this means next time.

... And wait, isn't there another ship that's heading off to the rebellion? You know... a ship transporting three particular ladies?

Next time... Next time...

* * *

><p><strong>SHARES:<strong>

**Planeptune- 10%  
>Lastation- 15%<strong>  
><strong>Lowee- 22%<strong>  
><strong>Leanbox- 19%<strong>  
><strong>(Yellow Bandanas)- 34%<strong>

**NEXT TIME: The Yellow Storm rages on...  
><strong>


	3. YBR 2: Bodyguards

Huh... What the hell's this? I have the script in one hand here, but... there's another sheet of paper I don't recognize. Hm... 'Author's Note'...? Oh, the mysterious asshole wants me to read this before the main attraction, right? Guess I'd better do it; I'm too weak to rise against the machine.

Okay...

**"Sonicgx8344: Good to be back, heh heh... Oh, and... nice to meet you?**

**Some Random Tosser: Don't know who Agathangelos is? That's good news, my boy! And hmm... _'By the way, I advise against using onomatopoeia in between asterisks to convey sounds people are making while they're speaking. It makes the text look __script-like and unnatural__.'_ *Narrator looks at script in hand* Alrighty."**

**... Well, that's it. Odd; I figured he'd have more to respond to if he made me read this... Wait, why am I still bold? The 'Author's Note' is over.  
><strong>

**... Ah, screw it. Let's get back to the story all two of you are here for...**

* * *

><p><em>A familiar scene from one mere day ago. One day, yet it seemed more like a year.<em>

_"I-I miss her so much, Lindy... B-But I-I'm such a horrible daughter! Every day... I forget more and more about her. I'm forgetting her face, forgetting her voice... Pretty soon, I may not even remember anything..."_

_"Geo..."_

_"I-I never... got to say goodbye to my own mother... After everything she went through to raise me, I never thanked her..." Feeling somewhat dizzy, the imposter rested her head upon her girlfriend's shoulder. "'G-Goodbye' is such a permanent thing... I don't think I could've said it if I had the chance... T-That's why I don't want you to leave, Lindy..."_

_The ASIC member's eyebrows clearly displayed how troubled she felt; what should she do? "W-Well... This isn't goodbye. I... I could never leave you, Geo... So, no need for goodbyes!"_

_The imposter sniffled. "Lindy... That's the problem: W-What if we never get the chance to say goodbye? Things happen so fast... One snap of the fingers, and bam! Everything's different... forever."_

_"... Geo, I swear to you, I'll be back... Everything'll be fine." The villain suddenly put on a smirk. "One day isn't enough to do me in! I'm a fighter, babe."_

_The purple-haired imposter looked straight in her girlfriend's eyes, felt the warmth they exuded... and grew a slight smile. "... L-Lindy..."_

_The two shared a soft peck on the lips. "... We're gonna get through this, alright? Nothin' to worry about... Heh, though, I guess we really haven't been away from each other for a single day since meeting, huh?" Feeling nostalgic, Underling gracefully kissed her girlfriend's hand. "Best year of my life, Geo... And I promise you, nothin's gonna change! Hell, way I see it, things'll only pick up from here!"_

_..._

"Gee, she's heavy for a skinny broad. Packin' away the pounds, eh?"

"Nah, yer just weak, buddy. Besides, she's da Cee-Pee-You Candidate of Planeptune; prolly has hidden muscles under that skirt."

"Dang... What I wouldn't give to GET under that skirt..."

"C'mon man! This bitch is one of the enemy! You can't be getting hot over the girl who helped your family starve ta death!"

Nepgeo's eyes slowly inched open, her vision hazy and burning from the bright sunlight. She could feel her head scraping against stone, and two strong hands dragging her by the legs.

"Wha...?"

One of the men, a grizzled bald man dressed in rags and wearing a yellow piece of cloth on his head, turned at the girl's stunned sound and grimaced. "Yo, she's awake."

The other, a larger man with a massive rounded nose, shook his head. "Neh, who cares. She's in no condition to scream, let alone fight us off. Candidate or not, she's lucky enough to have survived that crash... Hm, how are the others?"

The purple-haired girl groaned with pain as she turned her head slightly to the right. She could see yet another bulky man dragging two other girls, one with long blue hair and dramatic red scarf, and the other a really small girl with a funky large hat. They showed no signs of life.

The third man looked down at these two bodies he was dragging and shrugged his shoulders as nonchalantly as possible. "Nah clue. They seem to jus' be humans, though. Didn't stir when I moved 'em. Doubtful they're unharmed... or even alive."

"Hm... Well, did you check their pulses?"

"I don't know how..."

"... Idiot... Ah well, that doesn't matter. May as well be dead. Heh, pity... Serves 'em right for sidin' with these bitches." The bald man then turned once more to look at the dazed Nepgeo. "Sorry 'bout your friends, Purple Sister, but seems they didn't make it... Oh, but don't worry: we're takin' you to someone who will keep ya safe an' sound."

The purple-haired imposter, unable to even cry, reached deep inside of herself to utter out three simple words. "... I-I'm... nnnnnnnot... N-N-NNNNepgear..." However, this proved to be too much, and darkness moved in to claim her mind once again.

Even better, her words fell on deaf ears. "Yep, Alex will be mighty grateful for us bringin' you to him..."

Nepgeo closed her eyes...

...

**ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL**

* * *

><p>"... W-Well, what are we waiting for? Run like hell!"<p>

With IF's call, everybody in the party began to run past the remains of the rock... and Chip.

Well, not everybody I guess.

The transformed Neptune looked directly at not only her two bodyguards, but the other six as well. "We can't just have thousands of hostiles chase us all the way up the mountain. We need you to hold them off for at least a few minutes."

A female soldier with a shaved head and clad in army fatigues (must be one of Noire's bodyguards) struck her fist to her chest as a sign of understanding. "It shall be done, Lady Purple Heart. We will buy all the time you need."

The goddess smiled. "Thank you. Now, make sure each and every one of you make it out alive. I expect to see you all at the summit, understand?"

All eight nodded, though with differing levels of enthusiasm and commitment. With no time left, Neptune and the others continued on.

**Crush 'Em All  
><strong>

The two bodyguards assigned to each goddess now needed to show off just what they were capable of in order to survive. But hm, more than that... they needed to sell themselves to you, as well... E-Er, wait, no!... Guess I should talk about them now, huh? *sigh* I really don't want to...

Representing Planeptune were, as mentioned before, that Saturn Shiro guy and that doofus with a giant egg... er, Bimmy Hatchet, I mean. Shiro was a martial artist extraordinaire... That's how he's billed, at least. I heavily doubt it, but if he's good at hand-to-hand combat, that'd certainly help.

Standing as still as a statue closest to the oncoming army, the kung-fu master with the afro-esque hair channeled his inner chi(?). The peasants were confused at first, but after exchanging confused glances, they figured he was just some idiot frozen in fear and attacked. One rotund man swung a makeshift axe at the master's neck... but the weapon's arc suddenly stopped.

"W-Wha?" the assaulter gasped with a humorous dopey voice. Shiro had stopped the axe with his pinky finger directly on the blade. That sole finger felt like a brick wall.

"... Hwa!" Saturn emitted a sharp hiss, flicking his pinky and sending the axe flying. In a flash, the rotund man was rolling down the hill, colliding with some of his allies. Crap, that dude's scary.

Bimmy was... less efficient. Truth be told, he wasn't fit to be a bodyguard; a certain blue hedgehog was the better candidate, but no one had heard from him for months... no, a year even. He held his giant egg like a club, swinging threateningly while sweating up a storm.

However, the martial-arts master saw something in Bimmy... even if the boy didn't see anything in himself.

"I-I don't like this! C-Can we really hold them off!?"

Shiro didn't even glance at the scared egg-boy. "We must."

Moving on...

"Back, foolish mortals! Unless you all desire to burn in hell by nightfall!" a booming voice bellowed from a pale-white muscular man, a vein in his forehead nearly ready to burst. Chained blades appeared to be seared into the flesh of his arms; he was a warrior, through and through. Not a happy-looking dood either...

"We're not afrai' of ya, bal-day!" a thin villager snarled, knives brandished at the ready. He and his cronies lunged at the angry pale guy... Bad idea.

"Pathetic humans..." the warrior growled. He rolled expertly out of the way, then used the chains tied to his arms to knock the men off their feet. "I am Cratus! Any who dare defy the God of War shall perish before my might!" Whew, this is getting corny... Yep, this sonuvabitch claims to be divine... but it's all a crock of shit. Love or hate him, though, he's brought success to Lastation, and so S.R.A.T.S. recommended him as one of Noire's bodyguards.

He is most certainly not omnipotent... as evidenced by the rebels that managed to latch onto his back as he boasted. "We gots him! Don't let him go, boys!"

"Unhand me, vile cretins!"

An ugly-looking peasant reared back a bayonet, preparing to impale Cratus right through the stomach. He was helpless under the weight of nearly twenty heavy bodies. It looked bad for the poor bald pissed dude...

"Duck," called the stern woman in cliche army camouflage from earlier. A second later, a swift boot knocked away each clutching rebel, sending them (predictably) tumbling down the ramp. "Hmph." With a cocky but admirable air about her, the soldier lit a cigarette, took a puff, and tossed the deadly recreational drug away. More peasants now flocked to her, swinging away with deadly intent. Unflinching, she used several CQC holds to quickly disarm the idiots. Momentarily victorious, Cratus looked at his savior and merely grunted.

This soldier was Natalie Hail, the highest-ranking female of her troop. No one knew her back-story, but most agreed that it was probably cliche and tragic. Whatever her deal, though, it didn't change the fact that she was one reliable chick to have on your side.

"L-Look out!" Bimmy cried. Nat turned just in time to see a few peasants aim their crossbows and fire. With an elegant grace, she leapt out of the way of the oncoming arrows, executing a marvelous military roll. Cratus, snapping himself out of his annoyance, swung out the chains from his arms once more, somehow grabbing the arrows in midair and flinging them back towards the peasants. The weapons instantly exploded into several splinters, and the men were sent running away through their own massive army.

Great... Projectile weapons are coming into play now. Oh well, as long as they continue to be dealt with as easily as those just now...

Anyways, due to the rapidly changing dynamic of the relationship between Lastation and Planeptune, these four bodyguards had formed a sense of camaraderie... well, in their own particular way, at least. Definitely not the most, er, talkative allies ever, y'know? Still, they were essentially on the same side at this point...

"Hmph..." A grizzled man with immense facial hair puffed a cigar as he kicked three men away. "I'm not about to lose to those Lastation wannabes. C'mon, Hank!"

A middle-aged man with a long face and chin stubble scratched the back of his head. "Lose? Since when was this a competition? Listen, I've covered wars y'know, and when allies started fighting for dominance... well, it made for some high-scoring photographs, lemme tell ya."

Meet the two representatives of Leanbox! The first man was Femme Sandiego... er, yeah, he's as subtle as he sounds. He's one of the few remnants of the Leanbox Glourious Basterd Troupe (or LGBT for short), which was disbanded many years ago after a little 'mishap' with one Meister Chief and Femme's former partner, Markz Phenix. On his own, Sandiego wasn't very outstanding; he had always lived in the shadows of his teammates, and, although he wasn't present at the LGBT's last mission, he was seriously demoted after the ordeal. For the record, Meister Chief was demoted alongside him, and now worked bit security jobs. Phenix, however, was put into a high-security prison... and remains there to this day, never to be released under any circumstance...

But I digress... Whew, what was with that random trailing off of this script? I swear I didn't intend to branch off like that... You remember that I'm reading all this in real-time, correct? The words appear to me as I read... I still don't understand it, but oh well...

E-Er, since Femme was demoted because of a mission on Lastation, he's perhaps held a _slight_ dislike towards all of the nation's inhabitants. "Screw 'em. I could give two shits about those 'allies' of ours." Yeah, slight dislike.

Long-faced dude, a man by the name of Hank East, shrugged and took out a handheld camera. "Whatever you say, buddy. Just don't get yourself killed... or, at least don't get your guts on the lens." Snap! What, he's taking photographs of villagers about to murder him?

With the butt of a rifle, the 'fallen' soldier whacked a few men that approached. "It's you who should be worried, bub. What's a freelance photographer doing being a bodyguard for Lady Green Heart? Shouldn't you be taking pictures of dogoos or something?"

Hank bent his knees to get a new angle on the horde of oncoming peasants and snapped another picture. "I can take care of myself, pal!" Apparently content with his photo op session, the balding man reached out and grabbed an incoming enemy by the hair. "Hrgn!" A quick raise of his right leg sank his knee directly into the peasant's nose, knocking him out instantly. Then, Mr. East followed that up by bringing his left fist as far back as possible and blasting the poor man again in the face. He rag-dolled into the crowd, taking a bundle with him. "This isn't just body-fat I'm storing, lemme tell ya."

Femme shook his head as he rolled his eyes. He simply went back to fending off the troops with his makeshift bat. Peculiar fellows indeed...

And last... and maybe least, were the two representatives of Lowee...

"..." a familiar boy in green... spandex didn't say as he tossed a boomerang at mach speed.

"Gack!" Geez, what's that thing made out of? It's knocking down the Yellow Bandanas like dominoes!

... Oh wait, everything's been knocking them down.

A-Anyways, this appears to be the same boy seen as a Lowee peacekeeper, all the way back in an earlier chapter of the last fic. Surely you remember? Oh well, rereading is good... Hm, regardless, he must've gotten a promotion.

"..." Yeah, not much of a talker. To be frank, I'm not even certain on what his name is. The script isn't helping; very vague all around. I think it was something like Bink or Sink or Think or Binyamin... er, it doesn't matter.

*sigh* One more... Oh, another female.

"..." Without... a word, the woman (clad entirely in her iconic yellow and orange power suit) shot nonlethal waves of energy at the peasants that had rose to meet her. One blast of the weapon sent several men- you guessed it- flying. "..."

Yep, another loudmouth... Her name is Sumas Nara (extremely subtle, huh?), a self-proclaimed space mercenary popular in Lowee. Her career had been one success after another... that is, until... well, she didn't like to talk about it. From that day on, her exploits were dramatized into popular games, comics, and pretty much any form of media you can think of. All was well until a really shitty fanfic author was put in charge of one of her tie-in games, and wrote her into the most misogynistic plot ever on Lowee consoles (and that's saying something). Now, she just does whatever she can to distance herself away from that horrible story that nearly derailed her entire merchandise chain.

... Listen, I don't like all this clunky exposition so far, so I'll let them do the rest of the talking.

"..." "..."

*sob*

... No clue why the script is focusing on these nobodies, but guess we should just put our faith in it for now. Must serve some purpose...

The eight bodyguards stood their ground with relative ease, considering hundreds of peasants had been running up the path. However, being completely inexperienced with combat, a majority of the Yellow Bandanas were too cowardly to approach their opponents. Thus, ten at the most would step up at any one moment. Now, however, both sides stared at each other from a fair distance.

"Cowards! How dare you waste our time with your petty squabble! Man up and face us!" Cratus screamed at the top of his lungs, his blades now firmly in hand.

Femme took another puff from his cigar. "I suggest you all turn around and go home. This will only get uglier from here, folks."

The peasants began muttering amongst themselves, until finally, they all cleared out the center by moving to the left and right-hand sides of the pathway.

Natalie leaned in close to Sumas. "What the hell are they planning?"

The armored mercenary silently shrugged in response, not too sure why this women was talking to her.

A shout could be heard from far down the ramp. "It's ready. Bring it in!" The sound of grinding stone... What's going on?

At the bottom of the pathway looking up towards the bodyguards was a strange contraption made of six cyclic gun barrels, mounted on a pair of wheels... Wait, gun barrels!?

"O-Oh no! R-Run!" Bimmy cried, shrieking at the sight of the steel beast. However, the cowardly boy was too stunned to move. Right on cue, a tall peasant began turning the crank on the Gatling gun, firing out a rapid stream of bullets. This battle just entered an entirely new stage.

Hank was the first to turn tail and run. "Shit! No amount of pay is worth this!" Camera pressed against his chest, he ran further up the mountain pass, running like he really needed to use the bathroom... There's an image I really didn't need floating around my head.

Saturn Shiro swiftly leapt up and knocked Hatchet to the ground, just narrowly avoiding the steady stream. Natalie Hail rolled to the right, and quickly followed East up, ducking occasionally. Sumas, perhaps being a little too sensible, rested on her knees and kept her armored head pressed right against the granite.

Cratus was not one to run away, however. "I can take you all! Such cowardly tactics stand no chance agai-" *Crack!*

"Normally I'd let ya get killed, but my record would look better with no major casualties." Femme snarled, rubbing the side of his hand that had just karate-chopped the 'God of War' in the neck. His eyes then made contact with the boy in green.

Together, they ran on, the elf-boy backing up while deflecting the burst of fire with a shield.

By now, the inaccurate gun had ceased its fire, needing a break to cool down from its overheated status. Oh come on! You mean to tell me that, even with all those bullets, not one hit a single target!? That's an amazing gun the Yellow Bandanas have there.

Anyways, Saturn quickly brought Bimmy to his feet. "We run!" And that, they did. Sumas, too, decided to take that moment to retreat.

The peasant at the crank felt the gun with the back of his hand, I assume to check how hot it was. "Wait... Wait... Okay, firing again!" Buddabuddabuddabuddabuddabudda... Man, I feel like a jerk reading that aloud.

"Crap crap crap!"

"Pay no heed. Concentrate. Run."

Bimmy and Saturn were handling this rather well. Sumas, though...

"C'mon... Move..." she shockingly muttered under her breath, banging against her legs. No use; they would only quiver. "D-Dammit..."

The egg boy noticed that the Lowee mercenary wasn't with them, and looked behind him. "... W-Wait! S-Shiro, someone's still down there!"

Bullets whizzed by the woman, her whole body now petrified by anxiety. Her heart pounding, the world seemed to constrict around her. The walls of the mountain closed in. The pathway rose, now standing at a clean 180 degrees. The hissing of the gatling gun consumed her very being; it was the only sound in the world. Whirring wind. Grinding steel. Roaring fire. Screaming. No air. Tight walls. Help, help, help...

*Chink!* A few bullets finally made contact with the woman's power suit, knocking her face-first onto the ground.

"No!" Without Shiro's consent, Bimmy went sprinting back towards the downed female soldier, diving under the rampant projectiles. "Are you okay? S-Say something!" No response. The boy did the first thing that came to mind and took off the suit's helmet, and was immediately greeted to the sight of a beautiful young woman with blond hair and half-lidded blue eyes. Her breath was erratic, but otherwise healthy; the bullets didn't appear to have penetrated the suit. "I-I'm getting you out of here, okay!?"

"..." Now she's quiet again... Either way, she allowed Hatchet to pick her up, though the weight of the armor proved to be too much for his lanky arms.

The gunfire halted again. The peasants exchanged annoyed looks, and realized that this gun had been a major bust. "Er... C-Charge 'em!" Uh oh.

"Grr... Dang, thiiiiis is heeeavy..." The army grew closer to the helpless Bimmy. This doesn't look too good...

"Hrm!" Ah, Shiro! The martial-artist had made it to help his pupil, grabbing Sumas by the legs as the boy held her by the waist. Together, they ran, the army closing in.

All the while, the woman looked down in shame. "... Why?"

The two didn't hear her over the rushing air and the screams of the peasants. Instead, an idea struck Saturn's afro-esque haired head.

"Egg. Throw it."

Bimmy raised an eyebrow. "What!? B-But it's the only one I brought..."

"Throw."

Unable to fight his master, Hatchet handed all of Nara to Shiro and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small egg. "H-Here goes nuthin', I guess!" With a flash, the egg had grown to tremendous size, defying all laws of physics in the process. That's one giant egg! "Take this!"

The large food item was thrown into the air, moving like a cannonball. With a crash, it collided into most of the army, knocking them down in yet another slapstick antic. That sure bought everybody some decent time... Why didn't they do that in the first place!? Hm... Well, I guess Bimmy's now completely defenseless... Needs of the many and all that, right?

And so the eight victorious bodyguards moved to regroup with the rest of their party...

* * *

><p><em>For the second time that day, an airship hovered towards the mountain range at a slick pace. Oh great, how repetitive...<em>

_Let's drop in, I guess. No choice now._

_"There it is! Stay put, fair Mr. Mousey! Your saviors have arrived!" Oh... I should've guessed it was Nisa's group, considering I alluded to it at the end of the last chapter... Man, I'm slippin'... Oh well, who cares? __"I think you should start preparing the landing gear, little Gusty!"_

_A small girl behind the wheel turned her large-hat-covered head. "Gust not small!... Landing procedure engage__d. Pinpoint safe landing spot."_

_Nisa, with dramatic flair, looked through a periscope and scanned the surroundings. "Hmmm... W-Wait, hold on! What's that down there? A-A few feet to the left, Gusty!"_

_The alchemist, sitting in a booster seat, curiously looked out to where the heroine was pointing to. "Wreckage... A lot of wreckage! Looks like entire fleet crashed."_

_"O-Oh no! Aren't those...!?"_

_"Gust is sure they made it out fine."_

_"I-I hope so..."_

_Sitting quietly in the back was Nepgeo, Gamindustri's own purple-haired imposter (and ascended NPC). If you're just joining us, you must be seriously confused... I-I mean, Nepgeo's entire schtick is that she looks exactly like an HDD-engaged Nepgear._

_Biting the nails of her left hand, and lightly twirling the orange-haired anime girl necklace she wore with her right, the girl couldn't help but worry up a storm. "Lindy... Are you alright?" Oh yeah, newcomers should also know that this imposter is dating Underling... Er, but I digress._

_The heroine noticed the quivering Nepgeo, and smiled over to her. "R-Relax, Miss Geo: this will be a cinch, both for Lingy and us! Dontcha worry about a thing!"_

_A small smile. "Thanks, Nisey... Heh, truth be told, I'm also not very good with heights..."_

_Lightning-quick recap: the past year, Underling, Nepgeo, Nisa, and Gust became unlikely dormmates, so to speak. Both pairs had been caught in... er, "adult" predicaments, and somehow bonded thanks to one embarrassing morning. However, just a day prior to now, Linda received a letter from... ugh, I don't want to say it... which told her that Pirachu had been kidnapped by the Yellow Bandanas... and that she was simultaneously needed somewhere else to save someone close to her. Underling was to report to Lowee to regroup with the sender, and the other three were to help the CPUs and save the rat._

_Yea-ha-hah, at least I'm getting good at recapping this crap._

_As Nisa looked through the scope, yet another sight caught her attention. "Great halls of justice, look at the path leading up the mountain! It's like... a massive yellow ocean?" Indeed; the mountainside seemed to be utterly consumed by the color yellow. Damn... How many rebels are there?_

_Gust shook her head. "No time for that. Need to land now."_

_"R-Right! I don't like the looks of that pathway... Let's circle around, and find another way up!"_

_The alchemist simply nodded, already planning to do just that._

_And Nepgeo's nerves continued to escalate..._

_..._

_At the summit of the mountain, two brown-haired young men watched the ship intently._

_"Another one, huh? Guess they didn't learn a damn thing."_

_"Who do you suppose is on it?"_

_"No clue... and I don't care. I'm taking it down."_

_"What, bloody giant hail again?"_

_"... Precisely."  
><em>

...

"Lord Alex, lookit what we brought in!"

Three girls were dragged into the cave at the mountain's highest point, their lifeless bodies placed beside Compa. "N-Nisa!? Gust!?... Ge-Ge? Wait, n-"

"Shut UP!" Alex yelled, rubbing his head as he entered the cave. He had just returned from starting the rock attack ambush, and his mind was still in a daze over what he had heard about Jade. Shooting an annoyed glance at the men, he grimaced. "Who the bloody hell are you? What do ya want?"

The large man with the rounded nose grinned, his smile eating his entire face. "Got three bodies from that second wreckage, sir! You might be familiar with one of 'em, yep."

The disgruntled brother shook his head, but begrudgingly sauntered over to the girls, his footsteps echoing across the cave walls. "What is i-... Oh, hello theeeeeere..." Wow, that was creepy. Alex's eyes immediately lit up, and he hopped beside the unconscious Nepgeo. "Is that really... you, Nepgear? Damn, I was beginning to think I'd never see you again!"

The bald man rubbed the space beneath his nostrils. "Heh, yep, fished her outta that new wreckage. The Purple Sister, in the flesh."

The irritable brother stared at the unconscious girl for a bit longer, but then his gaze slowly creeped up to the other two. "Hm... Now, who the hell are these two? Why was Nepgear traveling with them? And if she's here... then where the bloody hell are the other Candidates?"

The two bandits looked at each other and shrugged. "Eh, beats me," the round one said casually. "Maybe they all died in the crash. I mean, those two lasses died too, so maybe the others were... imma... aimi... immiluted..."

"Immolated?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, dat's the word!"

"... Maybe so, but... what makes you say that these two strangers are dead?"

The two men once again exchanged quick glances. "Huh? Well, they're not moving..."

The irritable brother shook his head, and felt for 'Nepgear's' pulse. "If those two were dead, their bodies wouldn't be here, ya blokes! The hail that brought them down was magic, so they've all been affected. If they died, they would've disappeared into thin air, leaving behind dust and maybe a clothing item or two."

"... And?"

"... They're alive! Goddess, how daft can you tools be!?" Alex detected a pulse in the girl, and then rubbed his forehead. "So, here's what I'm thinking: the other CPU Candidates were not on that airship."

Baldy scratched the hair on his chinny-chin-chin. "... W-Why do you suppose that is, Lord A-Alex?"

The brother gazed in slight wonder at the sleeping girl, realizing that his hopes were as far off as ever. "... These girls have to be human... and honestly, for a hideous airship crash, they made it out better than you'd expect. If human girls can survive, do ya really think goddesses could be killed off that easy?"

"O-Oh... W-Well, we found Nepgear, so-"

"Heh... I don't know who- or what- this is, but it isn't Nepgear. No..." He ran a light hand over her face, and then opened her left eyelid with his fingers. "... She's a fake; an imposter."

'Nepgear' began to stir in her sleep, but didn't wake up. Nisa and Gust continued to show no life.

Alex rested on one knee, starring daggers at the fake version of his programmed love. "Who the hell are you?... Oh well; if I can't have Nepgear, I guess she'd be the next best thing. Keep these three here with that bimbo. I'm needed elsewhere I figure. Might as well win this battle..."

The two henchmen saluted their Lord. "Aye aye, sir!" The large man with the rounded nose, however, quickly grew a dumb-looking perplexed expression. Shocker. "Oh, one question, my Lord!"

"... Yes?"

"When is help going to arrive? What ever happened to that aristocrat you guys have been hangin' aroun' with?"

Alex's brows furrowed. _"We had a little help from a boy you tried to pull onto your side. Remember Jade, from Avenir? He told us all about how you three threatened him to support you... He's been tracking your movements ever since!"_

"... Aristocrat? You must be mistaken. There was never any aristocrat..."

The two goofs shrugged yet again, and then stumbled out of the cave. The conflicted brother stared down at the girl for a few more seconds, everything in his head a mess. A fake Nepgear, Jade betraying them, an ill-fated rebellion with no preparation... It was enough to kill a man.

"... Damn it to hell!" On his way out, the boy jammed his right fist into the cavern wall, actually leaving a slight indent. "S-Shit!" Apparently so did the wall to his fist. Completely casting aside his apathetic attitude from earlier, Alex went back to the good fight.

"... He's gone. Whew... He was starting to get all touchy-feely..." The purple-haired imposter strained her arms to push herself up. Compa, scared completely silent up until now, widened her eyes at the sight.

"F-Fake Ge-Ge! You're awake! A-Are you hurt? W-Wait, let me check on Nisa and Gust!" The medic crawled over to her two unconscious friends and analyzed the backs of their heads. "Whew, no concussions... Just slight boo-boos. You were in an airship crash?"

Nepgeo rubbed her head and also dashed towards her friends. "Y-Yeah, I guess so. I can't even remember, honestly. Happened too fast..." She reached out with a delicate right hand and felt Nisa's neck for a pulse. After finding it, she did the same for the small alchemist, and was further relieved. "Oh, thank Nepgear they're alright! If anything happened to them, I'd... I'd..."

Compa smiled at the sobbing stranger and rested her hand flat on her back with mother-like tenderness. "They'll be fine, don't worry! Even without my syringe, I will take care of them until all their ouchies are gone!... O-Oh y-yeah, are you friends with Gust and Nisa? I don't remember a fake Ge-Ge... I'm sorry."

Her heartbeat slowing, and her nerves subsiding ever-so-slightly, the purple-haired imposter turned to get her first look at the calming nurse. "Tee hee, yeah, I met them a year ag- Holy cow, you're... you're so adorable!" Energy returning to her body, she quickly sprang forward to hug the nurse. "Oh, and you're so fluffy too~ What's your name, my guardian angel? Ooooh, can I take you home?"

"W-Wah!?... I-I'm Compa... W-W-W-W-What's your name, fake Ge-Ge?"

"You can call me whatever you like, bab-" Before she could finish her stock 'playgirl' lines, another unconscious figure caught her eye, snapping her out of her swooning attitude. "... I'm Nepgeo... Hey, over there... Is that...?"

The medic followed the fake Nepgear's gaze. "Oh, that's Mr. Mouse! I hope he's okay..."

"Mr. Mouse? Hm... W-What happened to him?"

"Another mean guy kicked him into the wall. He was just trying to help me... Is he your friend too? He's on the evil side, but he doesn't seem too bad."

With one glance, Nepgeo knew that this rat was THE rat. "Yeah... Actually, I've been looking for him. Heh, mission accomplished, I guess."

Compa's gaze grew slightly more serious. "... Do you know Underling too? Mr. Mouse and her are partners... or at least were back then. Evil meanies or not, I'm sure she's worried about him."

"... Tee hee, a girl can't dispense all her secrets, right?" At that response, the nurse's eyes widened questioningly. "... Listen, I'll tell ya more later; I can't deny a cute face like yours. But for now... we need to make sure Nisey and Gusty are one-hundred percent! Then, we blow this joint!"

"O-Okay!... B-But, how do we leave? It sounds like there's a battle going on!"

The purple-haired imposter thought to herself as she leaned Gust's head softly on her lap. Nisa and Gust had mentioned a 'Yellow Ocean' on the side of the mountain... Were those soldiers? "... No clue... Improv is my thing, though, so no worries!" That was a lie; she was terrified.

Compa simply nodded, and then began massaging Nisa's shoulders. Gee, I sure hope those two wake up real soon. I have a feeling that once Adrian or Alex returns, there won't be any opportunity to escape...

* * *

><p>Hm... Now, we've heard from both Adrian and Alex... but, isn't there a third confused boy?<p>

...

"C-Can we rrrrrrrreally do this!?"

"W-We have to... J-Just don't think about it, okay! I-If we do this, then... we'll be safe from now on."

A brown-haired young man and a woman with long silver hair stood atop a massive rock at a split in the path, overlooking the incoming party of CPUs.

The girl brought her fists up to her mouth in horror. "They fought off s-so many... I-I don't think we ssstand a chance!"

"Y-Yeah... W-Wait, no! Bro's relying on us! W-We can't just give up..." the boy said, feigning courage badly. He held his friend's hand. "... B-Believe in yourself, Rei. I-I believe in you... Let's stick together, and... we'll be okay."

"... O-Okay!" Rei Ryghts, the newest member of the team (and Adrian's most despised lackey), nodded to herself, desperate to form up any courage she could muster. "I-I'm right behind you, Almaz!" That wasn't much.

The brown-haired young man nodded as well, and tightly clutched the magical orb in his pocket. No turning back now...

...

"Branch! Shit, left or right?" Blanc cursed, clutching her weapon with both hands. A trickle of sweat dripped down her forehead; thousands of peasants could be baring down on them by the second.

Vert ran up beside her to get a better look at the surroundings. Both paths didn't seem too drastically different; both continued to wind up the mountain, at least as much as she could tell. "Hm... Well, might as well decide fast! We either all run down one, or we split up."

"Splitting up may be a bad idea." Kei chimed in. "... No takers? Fine. When in doubt, go left. Any objections?" Everyone shook their heads, and the entire party prepared to head onwards.

"H-Hold it!"

A meek voice split the crisp morning air. "The heck was that?" IF asked, her eyes frantically darting all over the place.

"Look! Up there!" Thanks, Purple Heart. Whew, how the hell did everyone else miss the two figures just standing around?

Almaz rose the orb in his hand, and began to wave his arm dramatically... What's he doing? He looks like a street-performer. "YYYYYYou are to go no further, C-CPUs! M-My arcane arts will put an end to your tyranny once and for all!"

Noire leaned her head towards Cave, who just happened to be the closest one to her at the second. "Is this guy for real? He sounds scared shi-"

"Si-Silence! No more talking! J-Just run while you still can, f-foolish c-children!" Almaz closed his eyes and kissed the orb for luck, his hands shaking. Rei continued to hide behind her hands. "... Now... F-Feel the power of my... maaaaaaaaaaaggggggggiiiiiiiiiiiiiic!"

Cave and Chika exchanged a quick look. "Not again... Everyone, get ready!"

Everyone tensed themselves for another rock attack... that never came. "... This is one crappy rockslide, Thunder Tits."

"Yes... By now, a boulder would've been lodged into the ground. Do you think his magic isn't working?"

"That's kinda pathetic."

Almaz's eyes widened as nothing happened, and he quickly turned to his friend. "W-Why isn't anything happening? O-Oh crap, this thing must be busted!"

Rei Ryghts looked at the boy square in the eyes, and nodded. "... L-Let me see the orb, Almaz..."

"H-Huh? N-No! I-I can't let yo-"

"Please, Almaz..."

Reluctantly, the boy passed the mystical orb to the girl. Below, however... the party had a revelation. "Hey, er, guys... why are we just standing here? Let's keep going while nothing's happening!" Smart thinkin', IF. At least someone's using their brain... So, the party ignored the two Yellow Bandanas, and began running up the left path.

"They're... ignoring us?" Rei whispered to herself. That infuriated the quiet girl to no end. "They're... ignoring us!?" Uh oh. The meek woman clutched the orb, focused really hard on her hateful feelings, and waved it across her face.

Below, rumbling began, and Neptune eyed the rock walls above. "So much for that."

Oh, but no rocks were coming down. Instead, a peculiar whirlwind began to form at the feet of Gamindustri's own 5pb. "H-Huh? W-What's happening?"

IF and Cave looked on with widened eyes. "Crap, Lyree!" The brunette beat the SMD Warrior to the punch and dove to knock the pop idol out-of-the-way. Just in time, too, for the small whirlwind instantly grew in size into a full-fledged tornado.

"Oh dear, this doesn't look too good." Mina moaned. Not wasting any time, she grabbed Histoire and ran up, not waiting for something more to happen. However, another twister popped up right in her face, knocking both women right down.

One by one, tornadoes materialized into being; stationery but strong. Five steadily growing cyclones straight outta hell instantly blocked both pathways. "D-Don't get pulled in, dammit! Lyree, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... Thanks, IF."

The battle-hardened veteran pulled her lover up, and looked towards Cave, who was dumbstruck at not being able to save Lyrica herself. "There might not be much time until these things start moving. Hell, Who knows how much these tornadoes will grow... We're not losing anyone else!" Roars from down the path reached her ears; seems the thousands of peasants were zoning in fast. What became of the bodyguards? "... Anything you can do to get rid of these things?"

Cave simply nodded. Snapping out of her trance, she pulled out her... guns? "... Leave them to me."

Back on the rock, Almaz and Rei looked at each other in mild shock. "Y-You did it, Rei!"

"I-I did something... I-I used magic!" The silver-haired girl cheered, a smile coming to her face for the first time that day.

*Blam!*

In five fiery explosions, the tornadoes blocking the left path vanished without a trace, and the party ran on without a second thought.

"..." The two Yellow Bandanas stood there for a minute, just staring off into space. When they were ready, Almaz took back the orb and waved it in the air, teleporting them back to the cave...

...

As if to reinforce some type of cliché, eight figures ran up to the split in the path as soon as the two rebel commanders left.

"Huhh... huhh... L-Look guys! Two paths... Oh, the right one is... blocked by tornadoes? The heck is that?" Bimmy Hatchet panted, not accustomed to all this uphill running. You and me both, buddy.

Nat Hail cautiously approached the stationary whirlwinds. "Hmm... Well, they certainly are tornadoes... Why aren't they moving? Oh well, can't just walk in them I suppose. Let's take the left path, ever-"

"Hrrrrggg-ya!" With an explosive crash, the obstacles quickly disappeared before the soldier could finish her statement. Two blades lay where the cyclones had stood, which quickly redacted back towards the party. All eyes turned to see Cratus hunching up his shoulders, breathing heavily. Without a sound, he took a few leaping strides up the path, apparently looking for something on the ground. "Pathetic... Nothing's here."

Sumas, who had finally taken back control of her body, raised an eyebrow from inside her helmet. "... What were you expecting?" Oh, so she's in a talking mood now?

The buff bald man scowled at the air. "I was expecting Experience orbs at the very least. What a waste of my time."

"Heh... What a freak. What kind of idiot expects to find things inside random obstacles?" Femme laughed, crawling on the ground beside him in search of ammunition.

The elf boy in green looked at Hank East, who was busy looking at his watch and tapping his right foot. "Er, ladies, I know how much you like lying on your stomach looking at the hard ground, but we've really gotta get on with this. Remember that army of _thousands!?_ Let's move it!"

Cratus shot a glare at the photographer, but grunted in approval. "I grow weary of this terrain. Let's kill the leader and get out of this hole already."

"What a cheery guy..." Bimmy whispered to the armored space mercenary. Sumas looked at the boy with cold eyes, and simply walked forward. The rest of the party followed suit; heading down the opposite path from the main cast...

... This is either gonna turn out to be a wacky sitcom, or a tragic slaughter... Place your bets now!

* * *

><p>"W-Wha? W-Where am I?" the blue-haired heroine muttered as her hazy eyes opened for the first time in an hour. She lay there for a few silent seconds, until a single thought crossed her mind and caused her to spring up. "G-Gusty! Where's Gusty!?"<p>

A large gloved hand found its way to Nisa's shoulder. "Gust is fine... Is Nisa okay?"

The two friends immediately locked eyes, and the taller girl wrapped the smaller one in her arms. "Oh, thank goodness! I'm fine if you are, dear sidekick!"

"You're... crushing... Gust!"

The other two girls gave the friends some time to themselves before they both couldn't contain it and dashed over to them. "Nisa! Gust! Long time no see!" the medic cheered, able to forget the situation at hand for a moment.

The purple-haired imposter cuddled her face against the alchemist's. "There better not be an inch of your body hurt, Gust-cutie! Here, let me check for you~"

"No thank you!"

Ah, how swell everything has turned out!

... Besides the war waging down there! Why isn't the script focusing on that!? If I'm to be chained down and forced to read this, then shouldn't it at least be interesting?

*sigh* Sorry...

Let's wait for these girls to reacquaint themselves... Waiting... Waiting... Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare... Ah, here we go!

Nisa, blushing madly, bashfully removed her face from Compa's chest. "A-Anyways... Wait, we came here for a reason... Oh yeah, w-where's the mouse!?"

"Oh, Mr. Mouse? He's over there," the medic answered, pointing her finger at the wall. "He's still sleeping..."

The heroine and the alchemist nodded to each other. "Mission accomplished!"

Nepgeo raised an eyebrow at the dormant rat. "... Hey, er, should we try waking him up now? Make sure he's still kickin'?"

"G-Good idea! I'm worried..." All four girls ran up to the obnoxious critter, the nurse resting his head on her lap. "Mr. Mouse? Please say something, Mr. Mouse! Please!"

Gust clutched her chin with one hand. "Hmm... Rat's chest is moving. Still breathes."

"Can you hear us, Pirachu? Don't head for the light, my fair rodent ally!"

Slowly, as if by a miracle, the rat's eyes opened slightly. "... C-Compa..."

"Yes? W-What is it!?"

"C-Come *cough* closer..." Yep, just asking for more complaints with '*coughs*' like that.

"O-Okay! I-Is this good?"

"*cough cough* C-Closer..."

"Yes! W-What are you trying to tell us?"

"Clo- *cough*- ser..."

With a grimace, the purple-haired imposter delicately pulled the nurse's head away. "I think that's enough of that. He's fine."

Pirachu leapt up to his feet, sweatdrop sitting loud and proud on the back of his head. "Oh, you're no fun, Chump! What if I were on my deathbed?"

"Well, you weren't, so shuddup!"

Good to see the rat's as annoying as ever... At least he lived; otherwise, Nepgeo and friends getting knocked unconscious would've been all for naught... I wonder how many of you care?

Well, with everything all swell and good, only one important thing remained: getting the hell off this mountainside.

Nisa stretched by the entrance of the cave, looking out. "Hmm... The mountain sure looks taller from up here! Who knows how far down all those people are."

In the background, Compa lowered her head. "... This is all my fault, isn't it? I got kidnapped, and now everyone's fighting!"

"Hey, don't talk like that, babe!" the purple-haired imposter cried, hugging the nurse. "It's those creepy boys' fault!... And I'm sure some blame falls on the rat too."

"What the heck did I do, Chump!?"

Gust took a step beside the heroine and began surveying the terrain. "Battle seems to have been brewing for long time... Kidnapping just sped things up." The small girl's eyes slowly moved from right to left. "... Can use path down there to escape. Must move fast; Gust doesn't trust waiting too long."

Everyone nodded at the alchemist's words. "Yes, I agree! Let us move, fellow heroines!... and mouse..."

Into the storm, the unusual party ventured...

_"We're comin', Lindy...'_ Nepgeo whispered in her head as she once again clutched that anime girl necklace, perhaps trying to communicate with her girlfriend somehow. Were the two ever destined to meet again? _"We're comin'..."_

* * *

><p>Speaking of 'Lindy'...<p>

An airship touched down in Iris Field, right outside Lowee's capital. The doors opened, and out stepped one solitary passenger:

"Hm, Lowee is colder than I remember. Hope Judge shows up quick..." Underling spoke to the empty air, rubbing her hands together to keep warm.

Ah, yes... Linda is meeting with... CFW Judge... to save CFW Magic or something... I assure you, it's all a crock of bull. Trust me, I know...

No one else getting off, the airship left the ground and soared back the way it came... Well, that's peculiar. What, did 'Judge' secure a private vessel as well?

"... No goin' back now. Ah, c'mon, don't keep me waiting here... How hard can a massive robot-thing be to find?" Pretty difficult, if this fic series is anything to go by.

A good ten minutes went by with nothing interesting happening... No surprise, right? At the eleventh-minute mark, however, a handsome boy reared his ugly head. He stared at Underling from a distance, making the villain shuffle her feet uncomfortably.

"... Er, can I help you?"

The boy, with short unkempt dark-brown hair and glasses, smiled a disgustingly charming grin. "Miss Linda, I presume? Truly a pleasure. Did you have a pleasant trip?"

The villain raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Who the hell are you?"

The dark-brown-haired young man bowed like a classy butler. "I am Ganache... Jade sent me here for you."

"Jade?... Okay, now who the hell is THAT? Where's Judge?"

"Judge?... Oh yeeeeeeeeaaahhh... He's that, er, 'massive' fellow, right? Come with me; Jade told me exactly where to go..."

Underling scrutinized the suspicious boy for a moment. None of this rang true in the slightest. Judge hadn't mentioned anyone named 'Jade' in the letter... And, Linda knew better than to follow creepy boys home.

... However...

"... Ah, screw it; already here. Just take me to Judge... Any funny business, and I'll bust yer kneecaps, got it?"

Ganache grinned yet again, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You can trust me... I'm a gentleman! Trustworthy as they come." Yeah, good one, buddy.

The boy then turned and walked towards the capital, Linda close behind. Oh dear, what the heck is she walking into? Is a chance at saving Magic worth this risk?

...

A large figure emerged from behind a tall pile of rocks: CFW Brave. "Judge? Why would Judge be with Avenir? Be on your guard, Linda..."

... Well, this chapter felt useless... Oh well; according to the script here, the rebellion may actually amount to something next time. I'm not holding my breath, though.

... I'm more concerned with Jade and... CFW Judge...

* * *

><p><strong>SHARES:<strong>

**Planeptune- 11%  
>Lastation- 15%<strong>  
><strong>Lowee- 22%<strong>  
><strong>Leanbox- 19%<strong>  
><strong>(Yellow Bandanas)- 33%<strong>

**NEXT TIME: The 'Eye' of the Storm...  
><strong>


	4. YBR 3: Ancient Heroes

_A brown-haired young man sat reclined in a soft red sofa; the lights in the house were dim, and the television ran old reruns of a classic sitcom. The man's chest peacefully rose up and down as he drifted off to sleep._

_"Dadda!" a small voice cried out from another room. Within seconds, small feet clambered across the hard wood floor. Tap tap tap tap tap! "Dadda!"_

_A girl, who couldn't be older than seven, leapt into the air and crashed into the young man's stomach. His eyes immediately bulged open. "W-W-Woah, wh-what?... W-What's wrong, honey?"_

_The child looked in her father's eyes. "D-Dadda, I had a bad dweam."_

_The man- no, closer to a teenage boy- ran a hand across his face. "Again? That's no good, now is it? What was it about?"_

_"There was... Oh, I can't wemember."_

_The boy, much younger than his father-status would imply, chuckled. "Heh, I see. Here," he trailed as he picked her up, "how about I tell you a bedtime story?"_

_"Sure!"_

_"That's my girl."_

_The 'father' carried his child up the stairs to her room, and laid her down softly among the sheets. He reached to the left of the bed and pulled out a few tall books._

_"Ooh, what storwy, dad?"_

_"Hmm... Ah, here we go. This story's about a wonderful sea dogoo..." And he read from the short picture book, stopping each page to show off the innocent illustrations. When the tale was finished, the girl was just about ready to drift off to sleep._

_"... Dadda?"_

_The young man smiled down at his daughter, calmly stroking her hair. "Yes darling?"_

_The child closed her eyes. "... What if I have anoffer bad dweam? I'm scarwed, dadda."_

_Still wearing the most disarming smile he could muster, the boy took a deep breath. "Don't worry, Isara dear... No matter what happens, I'll keep you safe. I'll scare any bad dreams away!" He then closed his eyes and whispered under his breath "I'll keep you safe, always... Always..."_

_The girl was content with the answer, and slowly drifted off herself. "... Night... dadda..."_

_"Good night, darling. I love you."_

...

"Adrian! Yo, I'm talking to you!"

The leader of the rebels was instantly snapped out of his daydream. "... I'm listening. What, Alex?"

"Almaz and Rei came back. They failed... spectacularly, from the sounds of it. They said the CPUs turned right at the split."

"... No surprise... Alright, my turn now." Adrian cracked his knuckles and held the tome firmly in his hands. "Check on the hostages while I'm gone."

Alex nodded. "Alrighty... Though, I don't foresee them going anywhere. I'm pretty sure the boys tied them down and are keeping watch as we speak."

"Ha, yeah, I'm _really_ sure."

"Such confidence. Great bedside manner, bro..." The irritable brother waved his orb to teleport back up to the cave, leaving the leader alone to his thoughts.

"..." The distraught young man clenched his fists tight. "... All just a dream..."

Adrian had no daughter; hell, he most likely never would. But, even if he did... she wouldn't be HER. She'd NEVER be HER. No one would...

... All he could do now was take revenge... That was the only thing keeping him going: vengeance on the goddesses for allowing such a little girl to die. For allowing uncountable amounts of adults and children to die, while they goofed off and otherwise neglected their almighty duties.

Today, however, someone new was going to die; Adrian knew it. The question was, then... would he do the killing, or would he be the one killed?

"... This is for you, Isara."

Only one way to find out...

...

**ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL**

* * *

><p>A fair ten minutes had passed since the party encountered the ineffectual tornadoes. Suffice to say, no one was really feeling on edge anymore. So much for death-defying tension.<p>

However, one opponent was taking its toll on some of the party members.

"C-Can we take a break, guys? I'm pooped..." Neptune whined, no longer in her HDD form. Her slumped shoulders and drooping arms backed up her words; all this walking was too much on the lazy girl who mainly ate pudding. Gee, what are the odds that she's out of shape?

Histoire wagged a tiny finger at the exhausted goddess. "Neptune, we are actively being pursued by countless amounts of men, and more importantly, all of this is a rescue mission for Compa! We can't possibly take a-"

"Ah, I could go for a few minutes of relaxin'. All these idiots are seriously makin' me tired." Blanc aided, yawning cartoonishly. Her eyes studied the landscape of the surrounding mountain rocks, and spotted a mid-sized hole in the wall just a few more steps up the path. "That a cave up there? How about we put our feet up then? Those freaks won't catch up to us in time."

Kei sighed, but nodded regardless. "... Truthfully, a short rest would be beneficial; both for our health and to confuse the enemy. If another boy is waiting for us, he'll surely not expect our delay."

Noire eyed her oracle strangely. With a slap to her forehead, she spoke. "... So what you're saying is... we're going to confuse the enemy by acting stupid? I didn't expect that from you."

"Not the dumbest thing we've ever done, let's be perfectly honest."

At least our heroines are honest; even they know when the script sucks. Still, a good-bad plan is always liable to... succeed?... E-Er, so they all crowded into the small cave, which was soon discovered to not be the most luxurious resting spot.

"Get yer elbow out of my freakin' face!"

"Heh, that's not my elbow, Blawney..."

... In the deepest reaches of the odd cavern (read: 10 feet in), two oracles sat side-by-side.

"Histoire," Mina began, absentmindedly biting her thumb nail, "did something strike you as odd about that first boy?"

The tome cocked her head to the side. "The first boy? Well, it was peculiar how he caused a miniature rock-slide... Is that it?"

"No..." the scholarly oracle lightly shook her head, thinking back on the scene in question. "... We mentioned Jade's name, and he immediately lashed out at us... To me, it seems like that news was more than a little shocking to him."

"It was probably nothing. Jade did tell us how the boys had requested his help by force, and how he just as quickly declined; that boy probably realized their mistake right then. Avenir is not a force you want working against you."

"I don't know... I know that look." The look of betrayal, abandonment, no hope; why had Alex and Mina shared that same look?

Histoire could detect this was seriously bothering her best friend, so she gently rubbed her fellow oracle's hand. "You worry too much, Mina. Everything is going to work out, I promise. And weren't you the one who said that we have no reason to not trust Jade?"

"... That was before... Something feels off about all this. Now that I think about it, we know nothing about Jade besides that he works for Avenir. Prior to these events, he's practically a ghost..." The glasses-wearing woman looked down at the ground thoughtfully, her eyes attempting to pierce the dark stone floor. Detecting a concerned gaze coming from the tome, however, she quickly looked back up and attempted a smile. "L-Let's not worry about this now! We should be calm and collected if we're to save Compa and stop this rebellion."

Histy smiled back. "Yes, you're right. Speaking of which," the fairy turned to Kei, who was busy watching Blanc and Neptune fighting, "how long shall we stay here, Kei? At your discretion, we should head back out."

The boyish woman did some type of calculation in her mind, her eyes darting around aimlessly. "... Perhaps two more minutes. I have yet to hear anything coming up the mountain, and I hope it stays that way."

Two minutes, huh? No rush or anything, guys.

Near the exit of the cavern, 5pb looked at her dangling feet as she sat on a boulder. "... Chip..."

Cave and IF eyed the pop idol curiously. "Er, Fivey?"

"... I-I know he was a jerk, but... that rock... It killed him! J-Just like that! A-And all those soldiers in the airships... I don't even know their names, but they're... they're all..."

The two warriors looked at each other, perhaps for help. Cave spoke first; all too eagerly, in fact. "... We'll avenge them, Lyrica... I promise you, I'll make sure no one else falls today. I'll protect everyone." An attempt at an earnest warm smile. "I'll protect you."

The battle-hardened veteran also smiled disarmingly. "Cave's right... And of course I'm here for you too, Lyree." The brunette quickly turned the scene tender, running a hand through her lover's hair. "No matter what happens, no matter what it takes... we'll make sure you're safe."

Lyrica blushed, and quickly embraced IF with a kiss. The SMD warrior could only slowly turn her head the other way. One-upped again.

Across from the three, Noire tried to tune out Neptune and Blanc's quarrel through whatever means necessary. Looking at IF gave her an idea: "Huh, guess I should text Uni while we're resting. It'd be good to tell them we're not dead." Taking out her phone, she opened the text app and wrote a quick 'howdy! :D'... or something or other. "Wow, there's actually cell phone reception up here... Small, but it's something." How convenient for you. The message now sent, Lady Black Heart closed her phone and stuffed it back into her pocket.

... Well, that short paragraph was useless.

But Noire wasn't the only one watching IF. No, one much more conflicted soul was watching the brunette warrior.

"You are seriously tense here, Verty-berty!" Chika cooed, giving her darling Green Heart a shoulder massage in the corner... Er, how many times has this type of scene happened in this series? Well, at least Verty-berty seems new... I think.

The CPU of Leanbox smiled softly at her "sister's" words. "Ahh~ That feels good... Your hands are the best, Chika~"

"Anything for you~!" Ah, how chaste...

If you had to ask, with the way Chika was sitting, Vert was stuck facing the very same scene that caused Cave to turn away: IF and 5pb kissing like a star couple at the end of a romantic comedy. Such was the life of this troubled woman; stuck between a world of happiness and utter despair. Aren't we all?

"..." For Chika's sake, she would keep her troubles below the surface. She had already made an ass of herself the past year; enough was enough. It was time to bottle her problems away from the light of day...

IF... To Lady Green Heart, she was a goddess all her own... But it was Lyrica who had won the otherworldly brunette.

Ah, an endless cycle of tragedy; Vert desired IF, Cave pined for Lyrica, and IF and Lyrica were unaware how much their love was destroying their friends' hearts and minds.

... Random useless recap, huh? Oh well, at least the two minutes are up.

"Okay, everyone! Time to get back to the mission!" Kei shouted, jumping up with more energy than usual. Blanc pushed Neptune off her face and followed right behind. Within seconds, everyone was on their feet...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain...

**Seventh Journey  
><strong>

"Huugh... Huugh... Ugh... C-Can... C-Can we slow down... ppplease?" The out-of-shape Hank East pleaded, hunched over and holding his knees as he struggled to keep breathing. The other seven bodyguards stopped.

"Er... you're kidding, right?" Nat Hail asked, pinching the skin on her forehead. "Why are you even here if you can't take a little uphill climbing?"

Femme shook his head. "Bitch has a point." Two eyes glared at him threateningly, but he ignored them. "Why'd you volunteer to be a bodyguard? Shouldn't you be out there taking pictures and getting chicks?"

Hank laughed and slapped his stomach. "My healthy gut isn't exactly a lady-magnet, bub. Besides," he quickly dropped to a sitting position on the ground, "when's the last time you've seen a girl date a dude? A year or two back, my buddy Chuck's girlfriend left him for some purple-haired broad in Planeptune of all places! Nah, I'm perfectly content with my camera and stomach bulge. Took this job for a little extra cash."

Sumas sighed in the background. "There's a really great image for my mind... Thanks a lot..." Nat and Bimmy were the only ones who heard her speak; the female soldier was busy staring daggers at Femme to truly appreciate it, while Bimmy was too shy to say anything.

The Leanbox soldier continued to shake his head. "Man, you're a weird one... You call yourself a Leanbox citizen?"

"Eh, I skirted around the nations for a few years, lemme tell ya, but Leanbox ultimately paid me more."

"Shoulda figured..."

Apparently, Hank had won; the group had stopped to take a break, conveniently at the same time as the main cast. Come on, guys! Rebellion! Do somethi-

"Why are we just standing around like fools!? Man up and let's move on!" Cratus snapped. The other six instantly jumped in surprise, whilst Saturn Shiro remained as still as ever. "Get your flabby ass off the ground and LET'S GO!"

After the initial shock had worn off, Hank squinted at the pale white man. "... Listen, bub, I'm tired. I just need a few minutes, and I'll be good to go for the rest of the day. I may be fat, but I can really move when I ha-"

East was interrupted by a sudden miniature explosion of air no more than twenty feet away. Natalie and the boy in green took two steps towards the peculiar sight to get a better look.

"What in the world?"

"...?" At least he shows a little emotion sometimes.

"W-Woah crap!" Bimmy instinctively dashed behind the armored mercenary, who again shot an annoyed look towards the scared boy. Cratus clutched the chain-blades wrapped around his arms, Femme cracked his knuckles, Shiro remained absolutely still, and Hank East leapt up to his feet, nearly stumbling in the process.

Dust flew around the air for a moment before settling... revealing a brown-haired young man clutching a grand book. "Heh heh heh... Remember me, Neptune? It's a pleasure to see y-" Upon seeing the small group, Adrian's eyes widened. "... Wait... who the hell are you guys?"

The overweight journalist, wearing a cocky smile, eyed the boy humorously. "Could be askin' you the same thing. Do I really look like a sexy broad? I'm flattered."

The teen's eye twitched. _'Damn them... Almaz and Rei can't freakin' tell left from right...'_ "... Oh well, guess I can test this spell out on you freaks. Otherwise, this would've been a complete waste of time."

Nat, despite clear orders to forget about weapons, reached for the pistol in her holster. "You're one of the leaders, right? We don't have any time for your magic tricks."

"Heh... this isn't a trick." Quickly turning to the 'game controller" page of the cheat tome, Adrian keyed in a new code he had yet to use before now. The Lastation soldier kept her hand on the gun, deciding whether disobeying orders and blasting this villain would be the best course to take.

"... Dammit..." She made the ultimate decision. *crack!* A bullet instantly whizzed through the air, catching the brown-haired young man straight in the head right as he was about to finish entering the short cheat. Defying physics like one of Uni's favorite Westerns, he flew back a couple of feet and crashed into the ground.

"H-Holy crap!" Bimmy cried (again), now clutching Sumas' right arm. The mercenary nudged him off, but looked on in just as much shock. The sound of the bullet played over and over in her head. Over and over and over and over and over and ove-

"Haha!" Femme snickered with a clap. "Way to disobey Command, cutie! Well, it's your title and rank, not mine."

Natalie remained frozen with her body tense and gun held in the air. Her eyes stared in horror at the downed boy a little ways away, and with each passing second, her breathing became faster and faster.

"Finally, some smart thinking," Cratus growled, his arms crossed. "We should be killing everyone on this mountainside for even standing against us. This boy is nothing." Is he... trying to be comforting?

Shiro just kept looking ahead, the wind occasionally blowing the massive tuft on his head that he called hair. His eyes stayed on the still teen.

Hank, finding proper balance after both jumping to his feet and hearing the shot, walked up to Hail and pat her on the shoulder. "Hey, don't worry, I think ya did the right thing. If the CPUs start harassing you, I got yer bac-"

"Shut up!" The soldier elbowed the photographer away. "Just... leave me alone..."

As the other six bodyguards were preoccupied with her, Shiro watched the dead boy energetically sit up. With a growl, Adrian pressed the 'Start' button on the controller, confirming the code. A ding rang in the air, startling everyone back to the situation at hand.

"Take this, assholes..." the brown-haired young man sneered, holding the bullet that had failed to penetrate a single inch of his skin. "Pathetic cowards..."

"H-He's alive!?" Bimmy cried, once again reaching for the young woman's arm, who had moved a few inches away in anticipation.

Femme grinned slyly at the wide-eyed Natalie. "Got lucky, broad. Guess you'd better check those bullets; even a dud should've hurt 'im."

"Hey, something's happening!" Cratus pointed his right blade at the space in front of the brown-haired boy. "What sorcery is this?"

Plumes of haze formed before Adrian, whose twisted grin was nothing less than horrifying. "Heh heh... 'Ghost Soldiers Lite!' The peasants can't fight for shit, but maybe the dead can..."

The hazy apparitions indeed took the shapes of men in cliché feudal armor, accompanied by ghostly swords and spears. A total of eight ghosts... The hell? I don't remember this from the last story! I take it this is the spell he's testing out?

... And wait; did he say 'Ghost Soldiers... Lite?' The hell does that imply? These are just stock soldiers... What is the 'Complete' spell?

Hank eyed one of the phantoms up and down, clearly not impressed. Walking with a slight waddle, he moved right up into the ghost's face. "So, yer a ghost, huh? I've heard of zombies, but ghosts? Are we supposed to be afraid of ya? Ha, my mama's a scarier thought than you."

The phantom's lifeless eyes stared right through the overweight Leanbox man. Then, with stiff robotic precision, the hand holding the ghost sword moved back before jutting straight into his gut... Wait, what!?

"Glugph!?" was all Hank East could utter as the transparent weapon embedded itself into his stomach. Sumas wasted no time; she raised her buster cannon and fired a paralyzing shot. It passed through the ghost with little fanfare, and dissipated into the atmosphere.

"... Damn."

As quickly as it had struck, the phantom retracted the blade and returned to its original pose. The other seven dead soldiers struck fighting stances behind him, their weapons presumably just as dangerous.

"Have fun... I gotta get to the main attraction now." Adrian chuckled before vanishing from the path. The bodyguards ignored him as they ran up to the wounded photographer.

"A-Are you alright!?" Bimmy cried. He looked down at the man's stomach, where his t-shirt was turning red fast. "A-Ahhh!" The egg-boy nearly passed out, falling backwards into Saturn Shiro's arms.

Natalie snapped out of her horrific shock and took out bandages from the pack on her back. "K-Keep him still! I'll patch you right up..."

Meanwhile, Cratus tightly grasped his blades as he glared at the eight phantoms. "I do not fear death! Death fears ME!" The chains extending farther than most would expect, the blades sliced through the figures... and aptly did absolutely no damage whatsoever. "... Huh?"

The boy in green stepped forward next, not content with giving in to the undead. "... HYAA!" A boomerang soared through the dusty air, flew straight through three soldiers, and returned to his left hand... Nothing was accomplished. "..." This is going nowhere fast.

"Come on, ya pansies! Let me show you how real men deal with problems!" Femme laughed, pulling out his machine gun and firing a full clip into the crowd of stationary spectres... It worked as well as you'd expect. "... And I thought I hated aliens."

Sumas Nara shook her head at the insolence going on all around her. Ignoring the gunshot sounds that tormented her so, and tossing aside whatever pre-established silence she had left, she yelled out "We can't fight them! Run, you idiots!"

Bimmy was the first to react. "R-Right! S-Sensei, let's go!"

"... Ahum!" Guess that means yes. Shiro and Hatchet boldly ran towards the ghosts, aiming to move further up the mountain. Four of the soldiers turned as if on a pivot and swung their spears and swords down. Shiro made it out unscathed, whilst the boy's sleeve was torn, but both ultimately made it out fine.

The space mercenary motioned with her head, and ran right after them. A ghostly spear jutted out, but the girl was nimble enough to leap over and evade just as easily. This is kinda pathetic.

"Hey, asshat! He's your partner, so help me!" Natalie shouted at Femme, holding the bleeding Hank in her arms. The Leanbox soldier grimaced at the sight of the sweating and possibly dying fat man; no matter how many times he saw this on the battlefield, it never got any easier... He wasn't like Markz.

"... Ah hell..." With a groan, he finally reached out to Nat in order to help support Hank. The two began running towards the still soldiers, Cratus and the elf boy taking the lead.

"Come at me, minions of Hades! Show me your pathetic strength!" Say whatever you want, Cratus is good at drawing aggro; the eight spirits robotically marched towards the bald man, allowing the other guards to pass on through. Thus, the coast was now clear. "GRAHHHH! I am the GOD OF WAR!" Stop saying that! Corniness aside, he was also able to make it to the clear.

And so, the eight bodyguards survived yet another near-pathetic trial... Well, seven survived, whilst one is currently bleeding out. Yeesh.

A little ways up, however...

Shiro now lead the group, walking with an air that clearly showed he wasn't nervous in the slightest. No nervousness... yet ever attentive, as always. Further up the path, his hawk-like eyes landed on four figures heading right towards the group. "Ease!" he shouted, Bimmy instantly screaming behind him. "... We have more guests."

Sumas and the green-clad boy shared a look of understanding, and drew their paralyzing weapons. "Fire?"

Natalie shook her head, her arms still busy holding the near-unconscious Hank. "Don't shoot yet, dammit! We have no idea who they are!"

"We can't trust anyone."

"That's the type of attitude that'll result in friendly fire. You call yourself a mercenary?"

"..." Huh... Both women seem to be reliving some... less-than-desirable memories from the distant past.

Shiro kept staring at the four incoming figures, holding his arm upright in the air to signal not to fire... No, wait... there's five figures! Four women, and one... mouse? "..."

* * *

><p>Back at the highest cave on the mountain, Alex teleported back into the world. "I'm back, buggers! Hope you're pleased to see me, becau-"<p>

Clear as day, no one greeted him in the cavern. No fake Nepgear, no unconscious heroine nor alchemist, no frightened nurse-in-training, and not even a squashed rat. Nobody.

"... Dammit, should've figured the boys didn't know how ta tie 'em up..." With a depressed sigh, and a tingling nervousness in the pit of his stomach, the irritable brother took out his orb and whispered into it. "Bro, we have a problem..."

...

Adrian waved devilishly at the eight 'strangers', and the next thing he knew, he was standing on a path on the complete opposite side of the mountain. "... Still not used to that..."

Hm, okay, so now it looks like he's waiting for the CPU group. Ugh, we'll be here all day with all this time-wasting...

Fortunately, it was then that the message from Alex reached the leader's ears. "Bro, we have a problem..."

"... What NOW?"

"Er... it's the bloody hostages. They... uh, kinda escaped."

"... You mean to tell me that the girl, the very reason why these CPUs are coming down on us so hard... has just walked out!?"

"... Yeah."

Adrian couldn't help but laugh. "Even you, Alex... I didn't expect anything from Almaz or that useless wimp, but you..." Smiling ironically to the cruel heavens, the boy shook his head. "Arfoire was right, heh... Can't say I'm surprised. I was just hoping we'd actually accomplish _something_ at the very least. One success so I could believe even in the slightest that I was the chosen one to spread Pale Heart's teachings... I shouldn't have expected so much."

"Bro..." On the other end of the 'line,' the irritable brother's shoulders slumped, although he couldn't really tell why. Despite being apathetic towards all of their plans over the past year... it hurt to hear Adrian practically give up on everything. Give up on _him_. Alex's eyes began to quiver, and he blurted out the first thing on his mind. "... It's not your fault, bro; we've been betrayed."

This caught the leader's attention. "What, did that harpy convince Almaz to turn tail and run?"

"No... Jade."

"... What!?"

Now it was the irritable brother's turn to let out a defeated laugh. "Jade led the CPUs here... That's how they found us so fast. He must have been planning to set us up the whole time; he WAS the one to recommend hiding on this mountain. Should've bloody seen it comin'..."

Adrian raised his left hand to get a better look at himself. His palms were dry and callused, and an old scab was drooping off of his index finger. How easy it would be to pluck it clean off. "... There has to be some sort of explanation. For Pale Heart's sake, why the hell would he side with Green Heart!? No, he must have a plan..."

"Yeah, a plan that we're apparently not involved with anymore. Whatever's goin' on, he's trying to tie up some loose ends- US."

"..." Another spectacular fail. The Yellow Bandana army was useless against the strength of the CPUs, his own brothers' attempts to stop them led nowhere, the hostages had escaped and could be anywhere on this mountain... and now, Avenir, the very organization that had helped fund this whole operation, had turned against them. The only way this day could be any worse for Adrian was if he ended up in either cuffs or a pit in the earth. Frankly, he couldn't be sure what'd be worse.

... It was around that time that a parade of voices reached the leader's ears. Huh, could it be...?

"-ll the way to next week! And this is the hoodie that caused it!"

"Is that supposed to be encouraging?"

"Makes me feel pumped... Probably to kill Neptune, but who the hell cares?" Yep, I thought so.

Here they were; the enemy, just a few feet out of sight. Closer, they creeped... Closer... Closer...

The boy's shoulders tensed, his pupils dilated, his breathing sped, his fist clenched, his brown hair rustled slightly in the uncaring dry wind, the sun bore its incessant heat down on his back...

They're nearly here... This is what he wanted, right? Then... why was he suddenly so... so nervous? Scared out of his mind?

... Tome clutched tightly in hand, Adrian had to make a choice. If he stayed here, he could have a direct confrontation with his utter enemies... but he'd surely be killed in the standoff. But what else did he have to live for? He had failed so much already...

The noises of the walking group became louder, more apparent. Right there... So close!

Heart beats... Ringing in his ear. Ringing? Hissing? Howling?

Step, step, step, step, step.

Nothing left. Nothing left to fight for. Nothing left to win. Nothing left. Nothing left.

Inching closer and closer, closing in on the boy.

Step, step, step.

... Nothing? No...

Step, step, step.

Not like this.

Step, step, step.

There was something left, wasn't there?

Step, step, step.

_"Dadda!"_

**Ancient Heroes**

Adrian's eyes continued to glare down the path, the CPUs nearly entering his vision.

Should he stay and fight? No. Should he set a magic trap, perhaps the same ghost soldiers he had tested on the bodyguards?

"... No. I'll let them reach the summit... They want to kill me, then I'm going to drag them through hell first!"

Gaze cold and unforgiving, the boy closed his eyes and waved the book, picturing the cave at the top of the mountain in his mind. In a flash, there he stood, surprising an unsuspecting Alex.

"H-Holy crap, bro! Don't do that!"

"Alex... Find Almaz. There is a group of eight soldiers moving up the path Almaz claimed the CPUs had gone up." The leader pointed at the path closest to the entrance of the cavern. "With the way our day's going, I'm sure they've survived the ghosts. I bet you anything our hostages are moving down this very same path, and will soon meet up with those eight. I need you two to find the girls before that happens, and hold the soldiers off for as long as possible."

The irritable brother, still confusedly shook up at disappointing his brother, nodded as fast as he could. "A-Alrighty! Er... W-What are you gonna do?"

Adrian, with no emotion on any of his features, stared at Alex... but he might as well have been looking through him and at the wall. "I'm going to construct an altar to Pale Heart."

"An... altar?"

"Go, Alex."

"O-Okay, righto!" Without another question, the perplexed brother took out his orb and teleported, hoping to find Almaz and Rei as soon as possible. Adrian, meanwhile, stood right outside the entrance of the cave and flipped through page after page of the cheat tome.

"Here goes nothing." Within moments, the cavern was no more; reduced to a massive mound of rocks in a single ground-shaking rumble. Another rockslide cheat? Isn't there anything that could directly harm his enemies? You know, like... why doesn't he just shoot explosions at the CPUs, or create a gun and shoot someone in the head? All he did so far was summon hail to bring down ships and create ghosts to attack for him...

... He's still afraid to directly kill someone, isn't he?... That's it; he's deathly horrified. It's okay if he uses nature or has someone else do the dirty work for him, but him being the absolute direct cause of someone's death was out of the question...

... Heh, y'know, it's kinda scary; Adrian reminds me of... me. Never again do I want to cause violence or splatter the blood of everything before me... I-I can't do it anymore. All that death I've caused...

... But I'm not the one leading an anti-CPU rebellion. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, kid...

He can't hear me, though. Only you can... I think. Though, ever since I was put in these chains, it feels like... someone else is watching me too. Not like you, though; this entity is... *sigh* I can't really tell, that's the frustrating part... Let's just drop it and see what the boy's planning on doing.

"Okay... Have to stack the rocks. Don't have a lot of time; it MUST be ready by the time they get here... Has to be perfect..."

... How's he gonna do that, you reckon? Guess he has a tome of unparalleled magic at his fingertips... though honestly, it has been less than useful for most of today.

Oh ho ho, it's magic...

* * *

><p>It wasn't too hard to find Almaz and Rei; the two friends were busy hiding in another small cavern a few feet down the most obvious path from the now-deceased cave, close to bawling their eyes out.<p>

Alex cautiously stepped inside, tapping his fist against the wall lightly as if he were a father checking in on his son. "Almaz... You okay?"

The timid brother wiped his right eye as he looked up in the direction of the voice, but seeing his brother, he quickly turned away. "O-Okay? H-Ha, o-of ccccourse! Never bbbbbbbbetter..." Ah, let me do it: Beat. "... W-We're gonna die! I can't do this, bro! W-We gotta get out of here before Adrian gets us all killed!"

The irritable brother wasn't particularly surprised by the outburst, though it still concerned him regardless. He next looked at Rei sitting beside his brother, who simply nodded her head quickly up and down. Same feelings, just more subdued. "... Well, not that I'm endorsin' this or anything, but why are you guys still here? You can teleport; just go ta Lowee or something."

Almaz shook his head. "The orb won't let us go too far; we can only maneuver around this mountain! And besides, wouldn't Adrian be able to find us? With the tome, he can zip to anywhere he wants; he'd hunt us down and kill us!"

"... You have a point..." Alex began, closing his eyes in thought as he raised his chin to the sky. "... But I don't think you have any reason to worry."

"... W-What do you mean?"

"Adrian... Well, he's not going to leave this mountain. He's either gonna win, or he's gonna die; the chips aren't stacked in his favors. If you two want to run, now's the perfect time." As much as Alex hated saying this, he knew that it was the right thing to do. Their brother was lost; too obsessed with proving some kind of point to see that his actions were going to get everyone killed. Better that he, Almaz, and Rei not get dragged to Hell with him.

The meek brown-haired young man and the silver-haired girl looked at each other for a good few seconds, playing out who knows how many possible scenarios over and over in their heads. Running would be nothing short of betrayal.

"... You're... You're right, bro... C'mon, Rei! Let's get out of here. We'll just... run down the mountain and find the nearest town! Forget all of this ever happened... Start a new life."

Rei's eyes began to tear up, but a certain twinkle began to shine through. "... O-Okay! T-That sounds great!"

... Who gave a crap about betrayal? Betraying a mad man was certainly better than staying by the side of one.

Alex watched the two stand, suddenly full of energy they had been missing for days! "So yer really going?"

Almaz frowned at his brother for a moment, but nodded resolutely. "... Yeah. I gotta keep Rei safe. Y-You can come with us, if you like!"

"..." Visions of a different kind of traitor flashed through the angry brown-haired young man's mind. Betraying a mad man to ensure your survival... Was that what was happening with 'him?' "... Thanks, but I can't go with you guys just yet. I'll stick around here just a little while longer... Then, I have to pay our good friend Jade a little visit..."

"I-I see... O-Okay!" The meek brother rubbed the back of his head awkwardly before holding his hand out in front of his fellow OC. "Good luck, Alex... Find us soon, though! U-Understood?"

"Heh... Of course, ya galah. I can't trust you two to tie yer own damn shoes without someone like me around."

"... I'll take that as a compliment." And the two boys shook hands, sharing a brotherly moment for perhaps the first time in months, if not the first time period. After the quick gesture, Almaz took hold of Rei's right hand and left the small cavern, not looking back in fear of breaking down into tears and hysterics.

...

The two friends didn't make it far down before they became tangled up in yet another subplot.

"A-Almaz... There's a bunch of people heading our way!"

"C-Crud!... T-There's no place to hide! W-What do we do!?"

"I-I don't know! Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!"

Meanwhile, the mysterious group got sight of the two Yellow Bandanas.

"Could those be... villains!?" Nisa gasped, holding her hand above her eyes to drown out the sunlight from her gaze. The hell!? Why is Nisa he-

"That looks like... one of those creepy boys! And he's holding a cute girl's hand! Unforgivable!" Yep, there's Nepgeo too. Why are they climbing up the mountain again? Weren't they trying to escape?

Femme handed all of the passed out Hank to an annoyed Nat and concerned Compa, and walked up beside the heroine. "... Heh, another trap. At this point, I say we shoot 'em. Can't afford anyone else getting stabbed by a ghost." He raised his machine gun, his finger flirting with the trigger.

"W-Wait!" the pink-haired nurse-in-training shouted suddenly, causing everyone but Shiro to turn. "I-I don't think he's one of the evil ones! He didn't seem like he wanted to kidnap me, at least..." Hm, I guess she's forgetting the fact that Almaz stabbed a man just a few days ago... Though, it was strictly self-defense, and Alex finished the creep off...

Gust cocked her head to the side, almost as if her large hat was serving as a massive weight. "Hey... Gust knows that boy! He creep from that school! What's he doing here?"

Again, mentioning that fateful 'school', where Arfoire had unleashed all of her OCs on the world, intent on seducing our heroines to steal their strength. If I remember correctly, Almaz had been tasked to take care of...

"You!" Gamindustri's heroine of justice shouted, her words loud enough to reach the two Yellow Bandana leaders' ears. Heh, guess she remembers...

"Gack! M-Me!?" Almaz's jumped back instinctively, nearly knocking Rei Ryghts over. "T-They've seen us!"

Fire filled Nisa's eyes as she broke off from her extremely unusual party in an intense sprint. "I remember you, vile deviant! Back again to taste my righteous kick one last time!?"

The brown-haired young man fell backwards, looking on at the rampaging heroine with sheer terror engraved on his pale face. Rei stood frozen with a hand clasped over her mouth; thanks for the help, as always. "P-P-Please no! N-Nisa, d-don't hurt me!"

Seeing the 'evil creation' grovelling in fear on the ground caused the blue-haired girl to halt right before her fist would've made contact with his frail bones. "So, you do remember my name? Why shouldn't I fight you, evildoer, after you endangered my sisters and nearly killed us in that airship crash?"

"T-That wasn't me! I-I only stuck around because Adrian's my brother!... B-But I'm not with the Yellow Bandanas anymore!" He quickly flicked his head towards his friend. "R-Rei and I were just trying to leave... I-I don't mean any trouble!"

The heroine stood thinking for a moment, looking the downed boy up and down, and then did the same for the standing wide-eyed silver-haired girl. Apparently, she was able to come to a conclusion. "... Hmph! I refuse to trust someone who tried to take my soul!" This comment caused Rei to raise a perplexed eyebrow at her friend, but Nisa continued regardless. "... But... Well, I don't think you're stupid enough to try anything funny when there's a whole group of us... aaaaaand I don't like the thought of letting you run loose on the world..." Another pause, with the heroine looking over her shoulder. Compa nodded, and so did the rat on her shoulder, though he was obviously just trying to play up his ally image. "... So you're coming back up the mountain with us! If you really aren't on the villainous side, then you should have no objections!" Damn, that's... pretty cold, Nisa. Is this... her 'heroic' attempt at blackmail?

Almaz, hands shivering, looked up at Rei with pleading eyes. "... W-What do we... W-Wait! Y-You were the girls Adrian and Alex kidnapped, right? Then... why aren't you escaping?" Huh, he makes a point for someone being pushed into a corner.

The heroine next turned to Nat and the rest of the bodyguards. "Well, we were heading down when we came across these guys. They're helping the CPUs, and I can never ignore those in need of assistance! I told my fellow ex-prisoners that we couldn't escape just yet!"

"It was Compa's idea. Wanted to nurse stabbed guy and help Neptune," Gust interjected, totally thrashing the heroine's honorific attitude.

Nisa sighed. "... Let's just move on; my other sisters are waiting!" Without another word, she marched up the mountain path, her face a hint of red. Nepgeo grinned at the alchemist, who shook her head and followed close behind. Like a herd of migrating horsebirds, the rest of the group did the same.

"Er... h-hi, I'm Bimmy! I, uh, hope we get along..." the egg-boy awkwardly stated, holding his hand out to Almaz. Before the brown-haired young man could shake it, Sumas clutched Hatchet's collar and dragged him along.

The two friends watched the group move. "... G-Guess we have to put off that new life, huh?"

"... J-Just for a short while longer..." the former Yellow Bandana leader said as he looked towards the stone ground, utterly dejected. "... B-But d-don't worry, Rei! W-We'll get out of this..."

A smile lit up the silver-haired girl's face, her eyes behind her glasses physically sparkling. "I-I-I'm not worried... A-As long as I'm with you."

Almaz's face burned beat red, and he rubbed his cheek like a young schoolgirl. "S-Same here..."

"Come on, ya brats. Don't make me shoot you. Stragglers'll be put down like plant-based aliens." Femme's gruff voice rang out. So nonchalant for an obvious threat.

"C-Coming!"

* * *

><p><em>"I'm saying that I no longer need you, Mother... Nor did I ever, really... You gave the 'Crucial Codes' to us, and I am grateful for that... but you can no longer help us... You are no longer useful."<em>

Thanks to the fully powered Level 50 tome, an altar was constructed from the cave's remains in only a few minutes. Adrian looked on at his creation apathetically.

_"What!? How dare you speak to me like that, you insolent child! With a flick of my finger, I can reduce you to ash!"_

In the dead center of the structure was a pedestal, housing the mystical cheat-code book. An offering to the pixellated gods above?

_"Then do it. Kill me, Mother. If Pale Heart wills my death, then I must respect her wishes."_

The dry wind that had blown all day had finally ceased, leaving the air as lifeless as all the poor people who the CPUs' neglect had killed.

_"How dare you turn your back to me, all for some mythical goddess! There is NO Pale Heart, boy!" "Oh, Pale Heart exists, Mother... You cloned her, remember?" "... I... did no such thing! I..."_

A pebble stuck out from the otherwise-perfect construction. Adrian leaned over and popped it back into place.

_"Such a fool, Mother... You have so much power, and yet you squander it!... I renounce you, Arfoire; Pale Heart is my Mother! No... I am Pale Heart, reincarnated in this time of turmoil!"_

The yellow cloth wrapped around the brown-haired young man's head drooped down, partially obscuring one eye.

_"... You have no destiny other than what I chose for you, boy! Do you want to know the only reason I gave you three the book?" "... I don't particularly care... but fine, grace me with knowledge."_

From both paths leading up to this highest point, voices grew louder and louder.

_"You were to master the magic the tome contains, gather enough support, and then rise in rebellion against those disgusting CPUs... Sound familiar?" "Seems to ring a bell." "Grrrr... You've followed my outline to a 'T' so far... You wanna know how the story ends?" "Won't that spoil the fun?"_

Through poorly laid traps, the CPUs and their allies had managed to survive. The hundreds of peasants had to still be following them, but obviously not fast enough... Oh well; they'd soon find themselves up here with the arrival of the enemy.

_"... You and your brothers... die. You fail... spectacularly, even. Your little rebellion only serves to kick off a much greater conflict, one that WILL kill the goddesses. You three, however, will be remembered forever as buffoonish religious zealots who were only good at making noise... And you'll even fail at being a total mockery, since only the most devoted scholars would even care to record your exploits. You boys are destined to lose!"_

So close... No where to run now. Though, if Adrian was going to run and hide, he would have done it long ago.

_"... I don't care... I don't care. If I'm destined to fail, then I'll fail... But it won't be because you willed it, Arfoire; it will be due to MY own weakness! No matter what, I am solely responsible for my battles; no one else!"_

This was the Yellow Bandanas' last stand. As soon as the CPUs came into direct view, the bells would toll for one side of this conflict... Adrian against the world; a confused and alone brown-haired young man versus the strongest women in the universe.

_"... If you know you will fail, then why even fight!? Why!?"_

The voices were close enough now that he could make out the girls' words. It was time.

_"... Because I need to do this! I'm not fighting for you... Hell, at the end of the day, I'm not even fighting on Pale Heart's behalf... No, I'm doing this for me. Screw destiny, screw the odds... and screw YOU!"_

For justice! For liberation! For Isara!

...

... For himself.

* * *

><p>...<p>

... Hm? Oh, sorry; just, uh, catching my breath. These chains are digging into what I assume would be my lungs, if I had any.

I... apologize if I haven't been as energetic lately... Being a narrator to all this 'madness' takes a toll on the mind; surely you understand? And besides... I feel like that mystery observer I mentioned is... gauging my performance, or something like that. He wants to be a creep, I might as well phone it in to give some form of protest...

Ugh... Why am I still here? Oh well, at least it's better than being... out _there_.

... D-Don't mind me! Hmm... I take it you've figured out the pattern by now? I'm sure you can guess where this chapter is going to end, right?

Let's not waste any time...

...

In Lowee, Ganache led Underling towards the wine cellar of some bland coffee shop, and the two entered its grungy recesses.

"Again, where the hell are we goin'?"

"Heh heh... Right here!"

Linda's eyebrow raised towards the cocky 'gentleman', and she quickly shot her eyes around the dank basement. "... Geo warned me about boys in these kinds of places. I gotta bust yer kneecaps, or are ya gonna tell me what's goin-"

"Hello, Linda."

A booming voice nearly caused the villain to leap out of her skin. "H-Huh!? W-Who said that!?" From the darkness, two piercing neon-blue glowing eyes shone through, and the green-haired girl could faintly see a massive black figure outlined in neon blue. "W-Wha... Is it really you?"

"Of course... It is I, fair Linda." Underling instantly raised a finger to speak, but she was just as quickly cut off. "The questions can come later. For now... we must save Magic, correct?"

"Aaaaah, y-y-y-yeah! R-Right!... So, er, what's the plan?"

Still somehow shrouded in the shadows, the giant robotic... thing made a sound as if it were chuckling. "Follow Ganache; he'll take you where you need to go. I'll meet you there... I can't just walk through the streets looking like this; surely you understand?"

The hooded villain nodded with a new sense of resolve. "Aye aye, CFW Judge, sir! I'll do whatever it takes!" Grrr...

"Heh heh... As loyal as I remember, fairest Linda. Then, make haste, child!"

With that, a slightly uncomfortable-looking Ganache bowed yet again, and led Underling outside the cellar, leaving... CFW Judge alone in the darkness. Ugh...

...

Elsewhere, about ten minutes later...

Here we are again at Lowee's Basilicom, which also apparently serves as Lady White Heart's... mansion? Yeah, that's not at the expense of tax-payer dollars at all.

*ding dong!* Huh? Basilicoms have standard doorbells!? Does that sound really only warrant asterisks? The hell?... Huh, w-well, that massive wall around the castle may have eaten all the budget that could've been used on original sound bites.

"Can someone get that?" Jade's voice called out from some room down the hall. Uni and Nepgear traded quick questioning looks as they sat on a sofa.

"Er... Is it really safe for us to answer the door? I mean, we're here to hide from any possible attacks," the young tsundere nonchalantly asked, bouncing a small red rubber ball against the wall. On a desk beside the couch, her cellphone vibrated. New text message?

The purple-haired candidate tilted her head in thought. "That's true... Y-You don't think someone dangerous is here, do you!?"

"... Nah, only an idiot would try to attack us in broad daylight... Unless he's another horsebird hunter."

*ding dong!* Again with the stock! Jade called out yet again. "Please, can someone get that!? It's probably one of my men reporting for duty. I'm in... the 'can' right now!"

Uni winced. "Ew... Alright, I'll do it." Jumping up from the piece of furniture, the candidate innocently skipped to the front door. A curious Nepgear also followed; frankly, this was the most 'exciting' thing to happen all day.

The tsundere's delicate hand twisted the doorknob...

Twist, twist, twist... pull.

...

... The message on Uni's cellphone would remain unread...

* * *

><p><strong>SHARES:<strong>

**Planeptune- 12%  
>Lastation- 17%<strong>  
><strong>Lowee- 23%<strong>  
><strong>Leanbox- 17%<strong>  
><strong>(Yellow Bandanas)- 31%<strong>

**NEXT TIME: The Chaos Awakens  
><strong>


	5. YBR 4: Ignition

"Vert!? L-Lady Vert!?"

"S-She's not moving!"

"They're closing in... We can't hold them off forever! We must do something, fast!"

"V-Vert! I-It's me, Vert! Head towards your sister's loving voice!"

"P-Please wake up! Compa, why isn't she waking up!?"

"I-I don't know! Does anyone have any water!?"

"Come on, don't do this!"

"S-She needs water!"

"Wake UP!"

...

**ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL**

* * *

><p><strong>Yellow Storm Ver.2<strong>

"Look, everyone! We've made it to the top!" Lady Vert called as she used her hand as a visor to block out the glaring sun.

The group of CPUs had finally made it to the highest standable point on the mountain. Sure, there had been a few 'deadly traps' on the way up here, and one had claimed a named-asshole's life, but for the most part, it had been smooth sailing. Even the voices of the hundreds/thousands of peasants could no longer be heard; were they even being chased anymore? Oh well, they had arrived at their destination... That's all that mattered.

"Woah... Hey, uh, guys... What is that?" Neptune pointed towards the obvious rock-made structure standing right before them. "It looks like a platform to board a Ferris wheel! Sorry Blawney; looks like us shorties are gonna have to sit this one out."

"Shut up."

Noire's eyebrow raised, and she cautiously took a step onto the peculiar construction. "Huh... It doesn't look or feel very professional at all... Do you think it was made recently? Look, stones are even sticking out!"

Chika followed suit, though she added a bit more flair to her movements by leaping right up. "If I had to guess, I'd say this is some type of... altar? These guys are preaching about some fake goddess, right? This could be where they worship, maybe..." After another moment, her eyes were drawn to the small pillar in the center. "Ah! And this must be the offering shrine, Bible and everything! I have one just like it for Vert back home..."

"Hmm, interesting... Mina, let's investigate that book. I sense... something off about it." Histoire whispered, looking up at her friend.

The scholarly oracle, holding the tome fairy in her hands, looked at her curiously. "'Something?' You are usually more specific than that." Despite the vague conversation, the two journeyed over to the shrine, where 'The Crucial Codes' was indeed just sitting there. "... Well, anything? It looks like a glorified cheat code book... More dense than one of the children's', though."

The small oracle clutched her chin thoughtfully with her left hand as she delicately ran her right one over the mysterious book. "I can sense a strange energy emanating from within... but I can't pinpoint it exactly. It almost feels... alive. So foreign, yet so familiar..." Her small head looked up. "One thing I can ascertain, however: through whatever means, this is most likely responsible for the boys' magic abilities. I'd need about three days to be absolutely sure, but it seems pretty obvious."

IF spoke next, walking up to the two women to also get a better look. "... They've been using a cheat book? Huh... And I thought everybody used computers nowadays."

Vert nodded, squinting at the tome on the altar. "To think that this could be the one book that convinced all these people to resort to rebellion... I'm in awe, quite frankly." It was all rather hard to swallow. If what Histoire was saying were true, then these three boys had taken control of several small Planeptune cities simply with the help of this book... Could Gamindustri really be this fickle?

"Heh, how pathetic; these guys aren't magicians at all!" Blanc chuckled, swinging her hammer at the air. "They've been lying to a bunch of suckers! How dumb are these people?" Thanks for repeating Green Heart's inner thoughts, Blawney-Bla-

"Even after all this, you still insult the citizens of Gamindustri." Huh? Who said that!?

Everyone else seems to be with me... Where did that voice come fro-

"... A-Aidrey! Now I know it's you for sure!" Neptune shouted, being the first to spot the familiar boy... hovering from the sky down towards the group!? "We don't wanna hurt ya, Aidrey! So, hows about you give up and show us where Compa is, and we can all be as chirp as a horsebird in mating season?"

The brown-haired young man chuckled darkly, his eyes giving off the visage of a raging flame. "It's good to see you again, Neptune... But sorry; I can't give up. I refuse to surrender to you fools." Another twisted chuckle; clearly, this boy was no longer... 'sane.' "Hm... But before we get started, let me fetch my tome..."

As Neptune's shoulders slightly sank, Vert instantly reached for her spear. "We can not allow such a thing! You are the fool here. Grab it, Mina!"

The scholarly oracle instantly nodded, taking the 'Crucial Codes' in one hand and quickly snatching Histy back with the other. She made a mad dash back to the group.

"Oh no, you don't!" Adrian instantly took out his magical orb and waved it, and a major gust of wind from the heavens above flew right into Mina's back. The woman was sent crashing down, and both the magic book and Planeptune's fairy went soaring. "Heh, pathetic." As if tied to a string, the cheat code manual retracted right into his open hand.

"Histy, no!" Neptune fortunately made one save, diving to grab her falling oracle. "Y-You okay, Histy?"

"Y-Yes, I believe I'm fine... B-But Mina...!"

The scholarly women sat up, rubbing her back. "I-I'm also fine... That's not the worst fall I've ever taken..."

All eyes were now on the leader of the Yellow Bandanas, his eyes still burning. "As you can see, ladies, I do not need this tome to use all my abilities... No, I just don't want your dirty hands soiling Pale Heart's legacy!"

Cave scowled. "We're not afraid. The more you incessantly prattle on, the longer you delay the inevitable."

"Tough words... Okay, fine: Kill me!" The boy stretched out his hands. "If you want to end this, then strike me down right here! You'll never take me alive, so prove to the citizens of Gamindustri how bloodthirsty you tyrants really are!"

Without flinching, the SMD warrior took out her... twin pistol scissor blades? That's what I'm callin' them now... and fired two shots at the base of the villain's feet. Wait, so how do those even work in the first place? How can black scissors shoot at all? Does she channel her inner energy and project it out of basic household objects? Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out as we go along.

"S-Shit!" With a somewhat-childish yelp, the boy fell back on his ass.

Noire grinned at the brown-haired young man she had grown to detest nearly a year ago. "Hey, how'd you like that, you freak?"

Even Chika joined in on the gloating. "That look suits you well!"

Adrian, still sitting, hid his red face from the teasing girls. They... were laughing at him. Here he was, the leader of a rebel group, holding the most power he ever had... and the enemy was picking on him like a schoolyard bully.

... Well, that stopped now. Time for these horrible women to die.

"... Go to hell, all of you!" Jumping up with as much energy as he could muster, the boy closed his eyes and gripped the tome and the orb tighter than ever before.

Cave scowled even further and shot another energy blast, using her blade as a makeshift pistol. The projectile seemingly bounced off an invisible barrier surrounding the boy; is the orb and tome protecting him? Guess he learned from that headshot earlier.

Unperturbed, Adrian's mind focused on finding each and every Yellow Bandana supporter on the mountain... Ah, he could sense them now! He could see the sea of yellow; could hear the voices of the men chatting amongst themselves; could feel their desire to defeat the enemy and achieve true freedom.

... In his mind's eye, he could see himself physically picking up the army of peasants, carrying them all with one hand as if he were a giant... no, a GOD. Now, all he had to do was drop them onto the altar, and...

"Er, do any of you guys feel that?" IF asked hesitantly, taking out her blades as the mountain began shaking yet again (again). Huh, well, I don't see anything moving, so it can't be an earthquake or a rock slide like last time... Hey, I know Adrian was just imagining moving all those people, but you don't suppose that he's actually... well, you know?

The leader began smiling like a true freak. "... You had your chance to kill me... Now lay down and die!" Straight out of a sci-fi movie, some kind of portal appeared where the pillar that held the tome once stood. A large white flash shone out, blinding everyone.

"Tch!" "The heck is that?" "It's like lookin' into Neptune's brain!" "Hey, I heard that!... Ooh, you're kinda right." "Close your eyes, idiots!"

Crap, even I can't see a thing going on... Luckily, this light isn't overtaking this booth I'm in like the one that launched the highschool world a while ago... Guess things could be worse.

The blinding flash soon faded, and our heroines were once more allowed to see more than a centimeter in front of them... Er, but the sight didn't please anybody.

"... Crap." IF and Noire blurted out, while everyone else simply stared in awe... For you see, Adrian didn't just imagine himself moving a bunch of peasants up here to this crowded mountain peak.

"Where are we?" "How did we...?" "I-It's a miracle!"

... He actually did bring a bunch of peasants up here. Only about a hundred out of the thousands, but still...

The leader tightened the yellow bandana around his head even further, grinning like a mad man. "Kill them, children! When all else fails... ATTACK!" And at once, all the confused peasants rose their weapons high and cheered, before dashing towards the small group.

The girls all exchanged understandable worried looks. "Guess we can't run past them all this time..." Lyrica whispered sadly, Cave instantly attempting to offer a comforting hand for her shoulder.

Vert grunted in response. "We can do this! Remember, no weapons! We can take them all non-lethally as we run for that tome!" Yeah, good luck with that.

Everyone nodded, though not too resolutely.

As earlier that day, countless amounts of villagers charged forth. Chika was the closest to the spawning enemies, so she wasted no time and ran straight for them. Several spears swung downwards, and she bobbed to the right and smacked one man with an uppercut before turning around and kicking another straight on his back. Basic stuff.

Noire leapt into the fray, not wanting to be left out like last time. Although she was unarmed, she stood as if she were holding a rapier and waited for any potential attack to come her way. Over the course of the day, the peasants hadn't gotten any better at strategy, so they politely approached the tsundere one-by-one. "Too easy! Hyah!" Yeah, they didn't stay standing for long.

As the CPU's group made a mockery of the massive herd of villagers, Adrian simply shook his head. "Dammit... I can't trust anybody... How am I supposed to kill these villains if my army is as effective as... well, nothing?" Still refusing to personally kill, huh? "_Heh, well, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve..."_

His thoughts were interrupted by a surprise outburst. "Nep-Nep!" What the? Why, I know that innocent voice! "We've come to help, Nep-Nep!"

The purple-haired ditz's eyes immediately lit up from their dimmed state that Adrian had caused. "C-Compa!" Indeed; the other party had finally managed to regroup with the main one. Neptune ran over to greet the nurse-in-training at once.

"H-Huh? H-Holy crap!" IF, too, didn't take long before sprinting over to her best friend. "C-C-Compa!" Nearly breaking down in tears, the brunette hugged the pink-haired girl tighter than her sweater. "I-I was so freakin' worried!"

The medic hugged her two friends, her warmth a nice change of pace. "I-I was worried too! I-I'm so sorry..."

"N-No! Don't apologise! I'm just glad yer safe..."

"Yeah! You're my girl, Comps!"

"I-Iffy... N-N-Nep-Nep!" Such a touching scene... Almost makes you forget the battle 'raging' on in the background... Oh wait, that's just this horribly bland script. Come on, I could write more exciting scenes!

... Maybe I shou- No, never mind...

Noire knocked down yet another sweating peasant, and turned to look at the approaching Natalie Hail. "Oh, hey! Glad to see you all are safe."

The female soldier smiled lightly, the brightest she appeared all day. "Thanks, my Lady! We held the enemy off without any casualties... Er, well, the fat one from Leanbox is in serious condition, but that nurse girl has been keeping him stable."

"Ah, I... see... Well, if you have any fight left in you, we'd really appreciat-"

"Got it." The woman with the shaven head shot Cratus a thumbs up, and the bald man grunted in understanding.

"The leader is among this pathetic rabble. Let us claim his head by sundown!"

Femme shook his head and fastened his gloves around his hands. "Hmph, I don't need your approval to kick ass. Let's go!" And the seven bodyguards marched into the fight.

Oh, but that's not everyone, remember? "... So, do we, like, show ourselves? I don't really think I'm in any fighting shape right now..." Nepgeo whispered to the alchemist, whose eyes were half-lidded beneath her giant hat. The purple-haired imposter was left in charge of the passed out Hank East... because shit, they couldn't just keep him lying in the dirt.

"... Gust not sure. Would ruin moment if we interrupt... Also missing staff."

"This sucks, Chump." What great initiative, guys.

Well, at least it seems Nisa isn't intent on staying quiet. "Siiiiiiiiiiisssstttteeeeeeerrrr!" BAM! POW! BONK! A peasant who displayed an odd sense of initiative by sneaking up to the hugging girls was flung high into the air by a dramatic kick... How'd he get by everyone else? Question these plot holes, people!

Neptune was none the wiser, though the sound of the man crashing back into the earth snapped her to attention. "Hm? Oh, Nisa! How's mah favorite heroine hangin'?" At the ditz's ditzy words of ditzy-ness, IF likewise turned and smiled at the guest appearance.

The blue-haired symbol of justice shot her arm dramatically through the air. "I am most fine, my dear sister-in-arms! I am here to help!"

"Coolio! We could prolly use a couple of extra fighters... A thousand more would be much better, though." In the fray, Bimmy somehow found himself surrounded by three soldiers. Unarmed... er, un-egged, he could only back away in utter fright. "See? That there's my bodyguard." Uh... Is Neptune snarking?

Er, anyways... IF nodded in agreement. "Speakin' of which, we should probably get back in there before this gets too out of control." She lightly pat Compa's shoulder. "We'll handle this, Comps. Go find some place to rest. You've been through enough already."

But the nurse didn't take that sitting down. With a determined air about her, she shook her head. "No! I-I can fight too, Iffy! Please, I want to help!"

The brunette was about to completely shoot down the determined girl... but the look in her eyes clearly showed how much she wanted this. And if there's one thing IF could never do, it was deny Compa what she desired. "... Crap, fine... But, don't strain yourself, okay?"

"Tee hee, I'll be fine!"

This sudden development brought a wide smile to the purple-haired ditz's face. "Awesomesauce!" There it is. "This is, like, the ultimate reunion of the original three, yo! Hey, Noire!"

The tsundere knocked yet another idiot down, and she turned to look at her fiancée. "Huh? Yeah?"

"You're my waifu! Join us, babe!"

"Er, I'm a little busy here! Why don't you join ME over HERE!?"

The three friends looked at each other. "Ooh, good idea! Let's go, ladies!"

"Alright Nep-Nep!"

"Heh, let's do this."

**Trio the Beryl**

At once, the three friends of Planeptune split off and dashed head-long into battle, yadda yadda ya. A full-on clash was well underway... A one-sided clash, that is. The peasants were simply no match.

"Yup, oop, tally ho!" Neptune danced around a few incoming peasants, spewing out random quotes that wouldn't be caught dead in her list of dubbed battle lines. "Woo-hoo, how's your sister!?"

A few peasants clumped together, horrified at the ditz's actions; they must think she's summoning some evil voodoo magic or something. "O-Oh nooooo! W-What do we do!?"

"I-I don't know... S-Swing at heeeeeeerrrrrrrr!" And swing they did; the horrified men swung their rusty swords in every direction, hoping to score a hit. That's quite the dangerous sentence.

"Woah dudes, that's no way to treat a lady!" Neptune gloated as she duck and slid out-of-the-way of each strike. Coming from anyone else, you'd think she was mocking them... but this is Neptune; she's probably being fully sincere. "Can't we all be friends?" Swoosh! Duck. "I'm not a bad girl!"

The peasants, in all their fright, still refused to let up on their supposed ideals. "S-S-Silence, you... you tyrant!" The "T" word halted Neptune's joyful skipping, and a dejected look took up her innocent face, pretty much like a puppy who couldn't get that snack. "T-This is all your fault! M-My family has nothing to eat because of you!"

"Y-Yeah! I-I've been living in the dirt!"

"My village's well has dried up! We have no water!"

The barrage of comments blindsided the purple-haired ditz. Now, she meant no malice in the slightest, as I'm sure you could guess with her happy-go-lucky attitude... but, hearing all these negative things... well, frankly she couldn't even imagine anything of the sorts. The thought of people starving, hurting, desperate for aid... well, it was an alien concept to this girl, who up until recently had only thought of Noire, food, and having fun. People... blamed her? For being a bad goddess? For not offering any aid in times of need?

For being a tyrant, thirsty to appease only herself?

"Nep, watch out!" The brunette's call from somewhere snapped Purple Heart's mind back to the action, where three spears were jutting right for her eyes. The girl had just enough time to lean her head back and stumble a few inches backwards, the weapons missing their targets... mostly. One lucky spear grazed the girl's neck, drawing a slight spec of blood.

"O-Ow!" the ditz yelped, instantly reaching for her neck. "W-What was that for? C-Can't we all just be... friends?"

The bold peasants, among the first to actually draw blood from the enemy, readied their weapons for a more decisive blow. "Why? So you can further destroy our lives? Die, monster!" The spears thrusted towards our designated heroine, causing poor Neptune to trip over her own ankles and fall flat on her butt. "Kill her!" The three men leapt up, gravity directing their weapons straight for the tyrant's heart.

"Oh no ya don't!" Wham! A blur of a dark blue jacket flew across Neptune's gaze and collided with the bloodthirsty men, sending them crashing hard on the rocky ground. Rubbing out any creases that formed on her clothes, IF dashed over to her friend and reached her hand out. "What the hell were you doing, Nep? They were gonna kill you!"

Neptune's eyes displayed a peculiar look of uncertainty that rarely, if ever, surfaced, and she looked up into the brunette's eyes. "Am I... bad, Iffy? I thought I was the main character! Main characters aren't... supposed to be... b-bad."

The battle-hardened veteran crossed her long-sleeved arms. "The heck is this coming from? Look, these guys are brainwashed by that Adrian guy; you can't take everything they say to heart... Now c'mon, stand up! Compa's kicking more ass than us right now."

Indeed she was. The two directed their attention to a little over to the left, where the nurse-in-training was swinging her enormous syringe. "I'm sorry!" Whack! "P-P-Please forgive me!" Thwack! "D-Don't try this at home!" Slam! "M-Milk leads to strong, healthy bones!" Pow!

"Heh... Y-You're right, Iffy... L-Let's get back into this whole shebang!"

"Just don't say things like shebang, and you got it!" Back into the fray... Well, what was left of it. You see, those three spear-users showed astounding initiative, which sorta rose the peasants' morale. However, seeing them get disposed of rather quickly by a single kick kinda buried their positive attitudes.

"Yep, we're doomed." "But we can't just give up!" "Why won't Pale Heart help us?" "Why won't Lord ADRIAN help us?"

A bunch of the Yellow Bandana soldiers embraced the full-on 'abandon ship' mentality... and started running past the CPUs and down the mountain. Guess I can't blame them really.

... Standing way in back, trying their best to blend into the crowd of heroes, were of course Almaz and Rei, looking like the most awkward wallflowers you could ever see. They narrowly avoided being pushed by the retreaters, and being Yellow Bandanas themselves up until a few minutes ago, seeing all the cowardice sure was striking. "G-Guess we made the right choice after all, Rei."

The glasses-wearing girl nodded, but with a sad twinkle in her eye. "I just wish we could help them... M-Master Adrian said he'd help everybody, but now... who will?"

"... I..." But Almaz had no answer. Was there an answer? All the two could do was sit and watch their former allies get humiliated by the "heroes."

...

Er, at the same time, Mina and Histoire watched the boatload of men flee in terror as well. "Wow... this sure is going rather smoothly. I take it we shouldn't prosecute the supporters?"

The tome clutched her chin thoughtfully. "No, the peasants aren't to blame... But, this is going too smoothly for my comfort zone. We need to get to that Adrian fast."

"On it," Cave replied from off to the side, tossing a man off the scaffold back to the dirt of the mountainside. Unarmed as most everybody else, the SMD Warrior cracked her knuckles and looked straight ahead. Beyond the mass of peasants that still had yet to flee, she could see the brown-haired young man of interest, standing as still as a statue. Just needed to clear out a few more Yellow Bandanas, and the leader would have nothing separating the two parties... unless he summoned up his followers again, but they'd most likely just flee again anyways.

The warrior next looked over to 5pb., who couldn't really find a place to help out. IF, Compa, and Neptune were doing pretty well on their own, Noire was just messing with people at this point, and the bodyguards, Blanc, Vert, Nisa, and Chika were holding a contest to see who could knock over more soldiers. The pop idol felt like a third wheel, frankly... Hm, well, maybe more like 100th wheel. However, she sensed a prickling sensation on her neck, and turned to find Cave looking right at her. "O-Oh, Cave! How are you holding up?"

The red-head smiled. "I've faced warp pipes stronger than this whole army... You?"

"H-Hehe, I-I'm fine! I just wish I could help more..."

Help more... A most delicious idea struck Cave at that moment. IF was busy fighting with her friends over there... A perfect opportunity to spend time with Lyrica (no matter the length or context) had arrived! "Hmm... Well, I was just planning to send these last rebels packing and end this useless debacle... Would you care to join me?" A smooth hand reached out to the blue-haired girl, who promptly blushed.

"Y-You trust me to help fight with you? I-I'm not the best at this you know..."

Another smile on the warrior's serious face. "Of course I trust you, Lyrica. There's no one I'd rather have on my side than you." Damn, where is this coming from? Trying to pull off the whole smooth criminal façade?

Well, whatever the case, 5pb. sure seemed flattered. "C-Cave... Okay! Then... let's do it!"

"Yes, let's... Alright, stick close!" With a single nod of her head, the two were off, dashing straight into the crowd of remaining peasants. Even with a pathetic army, this would be suicide if anyone but Cave was leading this charge.

The crowd noticed the speeding SMD Warrior and began panicking. "O-Oh crap!" "W-Who is that!? S-She's as fast as a CPU!" "W-Well... she's not a CPU! J-Just one of their bastard friends!" "Then... k-kill her! Before she gets us!" Pleasant peasants... Yeah, I won't do that again, don't worry.

Into the final flood of armed soldiers. A group of swords sliced towards the sophisticated warrior, but such pathetic attacks could not stop her; Cave contorted out of the swords' reach, and reached her right hand out to grab one of the weapons. Hand firmly gripped around the blade, she leapt a small inch off the ground and spun a clean 180 degrees to the right, taking the weapon (and its user) for an unexpected trip. Right before her feet touched the ground, Cave released the weapon from her amazing clutches, and the peasant went flying into a few other men.

Lyrica was always enthralled by seeing her friend in action, but she knew she couldn't just gawk all day. While the peasants were distracted, she took out her guitar, kissed the body, and swung it like a baseball bat. "I-I apologize! Please don't act up like this!" she called as she FWACKED! an unsuspecting spear-user clean off his feet. Holy... that guitar may be stronger than my freakin' halberd... Nah, probably not. This thing is heavy... Not that I can hold it right now, though...

W-Wait, who's saying anything about a halberd!? N-Not me, that's for sure!

...

C-Cave smirked at Fivey's success, and continued to rain havoc on the last of the rebels. Her attacks were beginning to resemble ballroom dancing more and more, with her taking her opponents' hands and flipping them over or tossing them through the air like a congratulatory rose from the crowd. "Hyaaah! Hrgh!" Another second, another body flying through the air. Huh... so Cave is what you'd call a 'tank.' "Who's next?"

Like lamb to the slaughter, another rebel rubbed his sword's blade with the yellow piece of cloth around his head before rearing it back and charging. "I-It's no use! T-T-Take this!" The sword lunged forward, perhaps looking threatening to a small child. However, the red-head smirked at such a feeble strike! As the man grew closer, she took a small side-step to the left, raising her right foot in the process. The assaulter had no chance to react; his stomach crashed into her fashionable white boot, taking all the air straight out of his lungs. Defeated, he collapsed, and Cave cracked her knuckles again.

"Is that all?"

The last few men remaining at this point could barely find the strength to stand; some even dropped their weapons, the steel banging against the rocks. "S-She's a monster!"

The SMD Warrior's right eyebrow raised slightly. "Monster?"

The peasants nodded, sweat dripping down their foreheads. "M-Monster! Y-You're not human!"

"She's the devil!" "She'll kill us all! Hell, I bet she'll enjoy every second too." "Bitches like you don't deserve anything!" "It's no use; a beast like her doesn't give a shit about us."

Much like Neptune earlier, something inside Cave... well, resonated I guess with those words. Something certainly struck a sour chord.

"... Mon... ster?" The warrior was so dazed that she didn't notice the remaining peasants take their leave of this ill-fated rebellion, nor did she notice her friends all step forward. _'Monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, mon-'_

"You have nowhere to run now, villain!" Nisa shouted, a pointed finger piercing through the dry air. "It's just you against all my sisters!" Femme's gruff voice grunted somewhere behind her. "... Er, and my not-sisters... G-Give up now, and we may just forgive these atrocious actions!"

Lady Green Heart took the spot next to the heroine. "Nisa is right. There is no reason to fight any longer; we can and will defeat any and all dangers you throw at us. You can only benefit by surrendering, so please, be rational here."

Adrian, still standing as still as a monument, began chuckling. "So, you've come this far, and still you understand nothing!" The boy shook his head. "What have you proved today? That you can beat up innocent, starving citizens of Gamindustri? That with your strength and 'bonds,' you can bully anyone that speaks their mind and says something that YOU don't like? Well, congrats! You've proved I was right all along... That all of us were right all along!"

Blanc gripped her massive hammer, and with a snarl, said "Say what you want jackass; you're the ones who attacked us first."

Noire nodded. "An Arfoire-created monster accusing US of being in the wrong? Please."

The brown-haired young man's laughter still grew, seemingly unaffected by the goddesses' infuriating words.

Neptune stepped up next, her eyes locked on her shoelaces. "Aidrey... Why? Can't we be, like, two-pea-cans-in-a-pod again? Hows about we drop this whole 'tyrant' business, kay, and skip on off this mountain and get a big pretze-"

"SILENCE!" the leader of the Yellow Bandanas suddenly shouted, his voice echoing for miles around. "Just, for once, please stop acting like a stupid total piece of shit! Don't give me your idiotic babble! You're the worst of them all, Neptune! At least the other bitches are simply incompetent at helping out the people! You, however... you are a disgrace who is a liability to every single being around her! How you remember to breathe is beyond me. The fact that Arfoire created me to seduce YOU? It makes me sick. Whoever decided you should be a goddess deserves to rot in the deepest pits of Hell... Well, maybe not the deepest; that's reserved solely for you."

The ditz's jaw simply dropped, and Noire stepped in front of her with her sword drawn, as if to protect her fiancée. "I always knew you were a monster... One last warning, freak! Surrender, and I won't be able to kill you."

The brown-haired young man nodded his head, chuckling to nobody but himself. "You do know that I have a tome of unlimited magic in my hands, right? I can do whatever I want! I could even reduce this mountain to rubble!"

"Then do it." Vert hissed, her arms crossed. "... Well? We're waiting."

Adrian's near-soulless eyes bore deep into Lady Green Heart's skull, and an aggravated response slowly worked its way up his throat... but was halted as soon as he spotted a most unexpected sight way behind the busty goddess. A glimpse of familiar brown hair. "... Almaz?"

At once, everyone turned. Way in back, the timid brother and Rei instantly recoiled. "W-Wah!?"

Cold eyes, losing even more light. "Almaz?... Here to help, my dear brother? Here to make up for all the shit you've dragged in from outside?"

"... B-Bro! Um, I-I-I was... Er, Rei and I were-"

The leader's face remained frozen the entire time, his voice calmer than the dead wind. "Let me guess: the mean bad army took you hostage? You were too afraid to run with the other followers? Worried that... these awful women would hunt you down. Torture you? Kill you?"

Almaz exchanged the usual quick glance with Rei, and rubbed the back of his head. "Y-Y-Yeah! TTTTTThat's exactly right! R-Rei and I were cccccaptured, bbbbbbbro!"

More nodding. "Is that so? Okay... But, Almaz... there's something bothering me."

"Y-Y-Yes!? W-W-What!?"

"I don't see you in cuffs, brother."

As Adrian continued to stare ahead as empty and far as a war-scarred veteran, Almaz's heart sank. "Er... A-A-Adrian, I can exp-"

The leader of the Yellow Bandanas raised his right hand, pointing a finger straight at his brother's friend. "You... You did this, swine."

"W-Wha!?" Rei yelped, bringing a horrified hand to her horrified mouth.

"I knew we should never have accepted you, you wench. Such a worthless pile of crap... All of this is your fault! And now, you've turned my own brother against me!" The pointed finger turned into a tightly clenched fist. "You floozy harlot! I'm going to destroy you! Die! DIE! DIE!" A quick mumble under his breath, and a burning-red ball of fire shot from the boy's fist and right towards the frightened silver-haired girl. Helpless, she could only look on towards her impending fiery demise, but fortunately, Nisa dived straight into her to make the save. All eyes were greatly distracted, and Adrian began floating during the mass surprise, a purple barrier forming around him.

Cave, by now, had overcome the initial shock of the 'monster' title. "S-stand tall. Be prepared, everyone!"

"W-What's he doing now?" Noire muttered, taking a quick step back. The rest of the party did the same, everyone already clutching their weapons.

Kei sighed. "Why does this always happen? We never take the initiative to stop the impending boss fight. At least I have an excuse, but the rest of you are fighters." No response to the oracle's incredibly sane words.

Unconcerned with such trivial stupidity, Adrian closed his eyes and brought the "Crucial Codes' directly to his face. "Infinite... Fury!" Ding! The sound of a correct code being entered rang out, sounding much like a kitchen bell... I've said that before, certainly. "Heh heh heh... Eat this, scum! Hyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaah!"

A bright white light overtook the mountaintop yet again... only this time, a portal to lord knows where didn't show up. No, something different, if not worse, happened instead.

"What the!?" "So the report was true!?" "You mean he can actually...?" "... Damn."

The boy was now no longer the same in appearance as well as sanity. His purple eyes had transformed into a brilliant yellow, brighter than the likes you'd see on a neon billboard in the big city! His short brown hair was also a thing of the past, now a softer shade of brown, and reaching far below his shoulders while being spinier than a hedgehog's back up top. Finally, a brand new set of fashionable dark orange robes adorned the leader's person, giving him the appropriate visage of a wise religious sage.

The left corner of Adrian's lips curved upwards. "Surprised?"

**IGNITION**

At long last, Adrian's "HDD" form had finally graced the mountainside with its holy splendor! Our heroes could only look on, amazed beyond mere words!

The boy laughed, crazed beyond compare. "You like it? I am now a CPU! But, unlike you failures, I am graced with Pale Heart's strength... So, I'm ten times stronger than all of you put together! Hahaha!" A slight tug of his long right sleeve. "... Now, time to kill off a useless harpy. Then, the rest of you."

The two parties next found themselves in a stare down; one transformed insane rebel staring down a mass group of CPUs, their warrior friends, gun-wielding bodyguards, and generally just a lot of people who'd enjoy seeing him dead. Stare, stare, stare, sta-

"GRRYAAH!" Flash! Adrian's right fist suddenly found itself encircled around the delicate neck of Rei Ryghts, the poor girl too stunned to attempt a surprised cry. Almaz's instincts kicked in, and he brought back his right fist to attempt an uppercut he saw a hero on TV use once. Charging, charging, go! The heroic fist shot upwards, straight into Adrian's now-extended left hand. He clutched Almaz's fist tight and tossed him to the side like an empty wine bottle, sending him straight into Bimmy Hatchet.

The light in Rei's eyes began to dim, and the grinning boy's face before her started to blur. "Unhand her, villain!" Nisa arrived (again! Go, Nisa!) next to aid the former villains, leaping up and delivering a beautiful kick of holy justice directly to the fake CPU's back. It did little to harm him, but it did cause his head to turn and look at the heroine.

"You expect to save her like that?! Useless shi—" Adrian was abruptly cut off by a spear whacking him across the back of his head like a club. In a flash, his grip on Rei was ripped away as he smashed into the ground. The young woman immediately reached for her throat, perhaps to make sure it was still there, and then quickly ran over to the downed Almaz.

The leader, meanwhile, leapt right up and found himself face-to-face with Vert. The goddess spoke. "We are not afraid of you."

"Well... You should be." The boy made a karate-chop motion with his right hand, and Vert's legendary spear Gungnir was struck by an unseen blade, sliding her back a few feet. This time his left hand chopped the air, and the CPU had the good fortune to duck while also raising her weapon, the invisible blade narrowly missing her scalp.

"Fighting unfairly, I see." A swing of the spear met a nonexistent wall. "Still relying on tricks... Pathetic." Vert now pushed her spear against whatever it was that the enemy was using... A dramatic weapon clash scene where I can't see what exactly is clashing. Perfect.

Adrian grimaced, pushing his right hand forward, applying pressure to the hold. "I only care about getting what the people want. Break a few rules? No problem." Clink! "As if you've never done the same."

The untransformed Green Heart's scowl slowly morphed into a light grin. "... You're right: I don't play fair either." And on cue, Noire sliced forth with her rapier, catching Adrian's shoulder before he could slide out of harm's way. Blood seeped forth from the wound; no matter what he thought, the leader was far from unstoppable.

But the heroes didn't stop there; they had spent all day just standing around, after all. Blanc gladly took out her mallet, and with a bloodthirsty malice to her smile, heaved the heavy blunt instrument into the boy's side, sending him through the air like a missile. He flew right to where Saturn Shiro and IF stood at the ready.

"Ready... NOW!" the man of few words spouted, and on cue, he and the battle-hardened veteran launched a punch straight into the incoming rebel's face... O-Ow, geez. Surely that hurt them just as much as it did him?

Adrian bounced on the stone ground, taking a rather nasty fall on his back. Fortunately for him, his transformed state kept his bones from being reduced completely to dust, but man, would he feel this in the morning.

... If he lived to see tomorrow morning.

The downed boy blinked a few times, taking in what he figured to be his last glimpses of sunlight from outside of a coffin. Blood seeped from his nose and slowly inched its way into his partially open mouth. The faint taste of iron... So invigorating. So... inspiring.

With a quick wipe of his finger across the blood, which promptly began sizzling, Adrian sat up... and found himself looking into the concerned eyes of Neptune. "Aidrey, please don't do this! C-Can't we be coolio again? This can't be what you want?" An almost-uncharacteristic helping hand. "Come on Aidrey! Pwease~?"

An enticing thought, being friends with Neptune... The ditz failed to realize two things, though: his whole original intended purpose for existing was to seduce her and then suck out her soul. More than that now, however... Adrian no longer gave a shit.

"... Screw you!" Sching! The blood on his finger shot off like a bullet, now a red icicle. Noire and Nat Hail made the save just in time, knocking the shocked Purple Heart to the ground. Adrian leapt back up to his two feet. "You don't get it... Did you not hear me before? You tyrants deserve to burn, burn, burn!" His right fist became a literal fire-ball, and he punched towards the empty space above the group of three.

The twintailed goddess was the first to stand up after the save, and was met with a chestful of flames. With a grunting "Ooomph!", the tsundere was shot to the ground.

"N-Noire!" Adrian ignored Neptune's cries and shot another fireball in her direction. A quick roll to the left thanks to Nat perhaps saved the ditz's face. The rebel leader wouldn't stop there, though; he had to humiliate everyone who had humiliated him!

A snap of the fingers later, and he was behind the battle-hardened veteran, grabbing her by her long brown hair. "S-Shit! Get offa me!" IF retracted a blade from her long sleeve and jabbed it behind her head repeatedly. One swoosh, miss. Second swoosh! Miss. Third swoosh! Miss. Fourth swoosh!

"Gah!" A graze of the neck, and the rebel leader let go, delivering a quick kick with his left foot into Shiro's shin before snapping his fingers again. "You bitches are so annoying, all of you!" A punch to the air, sending forth yet another flaming projectile, this time towards Chika. However, Lady Green Heart leapt forward and swat her spear, hitting a home run with the flame and deflecting it right back to the boy. Adrian himself smacked it off to the left, the missile dispersing as soon as it hit the ground.

Vert nodded resolutely. "We haven't even engaged HDD yet, and we can outmatch you in every regard. It is foolish to continue this awful joke." Yeah, please kid; this chapter is getting worse and so, SO much longer by the second.

The leader of the Yellow Bandanas wanted to speak, but could find no words. These cocky, arrogant assholes... were right. He didn't stand a chance one-on-one, let alone against everybody at once. They were stronger, and they absolutely knew it. And, like the tyrants they were, they would rub that fact in his face until it became embedded in his skull.

... But wait, the "Crucial Codes" has more than just simple things like fire and ice attacks, right? It has much more than basic offensive maneuvers which merely cause pain...

If he got creative... perhaps he could use something wholly unexpected to hurt these witches? But first, he'd need a distraction; everyone was staring at him, unsure of where he might teleport to next. If he began reading from his book for more than just the time it took to enter a high-powered cheat, they would presumably jump him... if they had any brains at all.

He needed an army again, if just for a few moments. _'The ghost soldiers... I used the lite version earlier, and that did jackshit, but maybe the full version...'_

"Well? No response at all?" Lady Vert egged on, her spear showing no fear.

Blanc joined in on the gloating with pleasure. "What a big bad rebel you turned out to be."

Neptune (along with Compa) was too busy making sure Noire was alright to say anything, but I doubt she'd be able to say much anyways. Her eyes didn't look as chirp or bubbly as they always do.

All Adrian could do was smirk, tighten the cloth around his head further, and laugh. "Fine, you're not content with me? Then, here, have some more toys to play with!" A masterful instant turn to the controller page of the tome, and a few button presses later, that familiar DING! rang out again.

Cave sighed. "What now?" She firmly clutched her scissors, with her free hand held out as if to block Lyrica behind her from any incoming danger.

"He heh heh... You've already tormented the living. Now try the DEAD!" Expecting more phantoms to pop up from nowhere like they had last time, the brown-haired young man was thoroughly disappointed when... well, absolutely nothing happened. "... Er, anytime now, guys." Man, this is turning into a bad comedy sketch.

IF aimed her sleeves at the enemy. "That all you got? Book ran outta juice, huh?" It was then that the brunette's right ankle was forcefully clenched by something from below. "W-What the!? S-Something's got me! Crap, get off!"

Everyone gathered around the brunette, examining her feet. "U-Um, t-there's a hand gripping you, I-IF!" Lyrica cried, the grayish hand emerging from the rocks obviously having a negative effect on her psyche. "S-Stand still!" And, lacking any time to think, the pop idol proceeded to kick the hand.

"Y-Yow!"

"I-I'm sorry, Iffy!" Well, this is certainly... pragmatic?

A few well-placed kicks, and the hand eased its grip, allowing the brunette to slip free. Wow, how pathetic.

Blanc leaned in to look at the extremity. "The hell? It kinda looks like a zombie hand... He can summon zombies now, too?" I don't know, I think even I'd be screaming at the TOP OF MY LUNGS if a zombie hand emerged from the rocks. These girls sure are calm... Or just fools.

Way out of sight, the recovering Hank East sighed, as if the "z" word affected him subconsciously, but Nepgeo and Gust ignored him, instead watching the peculiar fight unfolding. Wow, these two really aren't going to do anything productive in this chapter, huh? Why are they even here again?

Er, anyways, the arm was unexpected, but it had given Adrian exactly what he needed: a distraction. All it took was a mere fortunate turn to one of the earliest pages to develop a most devious thought. _''Level Select'... Hmm... Up til now, the lite version of this code has allowed us to instantly travel around the globe... But, in games, is Level Select merely used for quick travel? No... No, in a way, it works sorta like time travel...'_

Time travel?... Yeah, I guess he has a point. I mean, you go back to a previous point in the story, switching not only locations, but the time period as well. But, what does that... Wait?

The chuckling transformed boy flipped over to Page 42 (second nature by this point), where that glorious physics-defying game controller photo was proudly displayed. "Let's see here... This version goes like 'Right, Left, Down, Up'..." Dingidy-ding-ding! I can make it a song. "... Then I hold B... and finally..." A prepared finger hovered over the Select button on the horribly confusing and cluttered controller... huh, a perfect description for this chapter, actually...

In our crowd of heroines, however, more than just a hand had begun to form while the rebel read the cheat tome. "N-Noirey? T-Those are..."

"... A-A lot of zombies, yeah."

"This isn't good. I guess it goes without saying at this point, but weapons-free now, guys! Unload on 'em!"

Oh dear... Did this fic just say zombies!? Are we really so starved for ideas already that we've succumbed to the most tired thing in all forms of media?

... Huh, well, I guess zombies are still zombies; aka, scary things that bite. Not family friendly.

Adrian looked on, pure pleasure plastered on his face. "Oh my, this cheat is turning out better than I expected! Ghost Soldiers can produce freakin' undead corpses! Ha, try to beat that!"

Everyone watched the rising mounds of rotted flesh. Femme was the first to stop giving a crap; he took out his machine gun and began spraying the things with bullets... which promptly did absolutely nothing to slow them down... This was becoming quite the familiar sight for the Leanbox soldier. "... They're tough little buggers, eh? Today sucks." Up until now, he's never met a creature he couldn't blast to oblivion.

The same was true for everyone else. Noire would stab the things with her rapier like a mad women; Blanc would beat 'em like rotting, stinking pinatas; Cave would blast them with whatever the hell you want to call her scissors; Bimmy would wake up, look at the new enemies, and promptly pass out again; and even Lyrica and Compa would wail away on the things, using their peculiar weapons as lethal banging devices... Er, there had to be a better way for me to say that.

In sum... these zombies weren't going down. They were essentially the same as the ghost soldiers, except these actually gave the illusion that you could hurt them. Raising hope just to slash it back down. If it bleeds, you can kill it... and these things weren't bleeding.

Just about all eyes were somewhat-understandably on the fiends, giving Adrian all the time he needed. _'I'm not one for changing the past... but these bitches don't deserve to pick on me. If I can just go back a few minutes and summon these zombies from the start... Maybe then I can-'_ Slam! A forceful swing knocked the 'Crucial Codes' straight out of his powerful hands, the book flying through the air. It would be blasphemous for the hallowed, sacred tome- a holy object worth more than all human life on not only the planet, but several other unknown planets out there- to touch the dirty, filthy rocks on the ground, so the leader stumbled about like a surprised doofus to reach out for it. With another embarrassing fall, he caught it before it touched ground, but at the cost of landing on his face.

But who was the one who smacked the book silly, you ask? Go on, guess... I'll wait for yo- "I am not as easily distracted as the other CPUs. I can not allow you to pull off anymore schemes." Never mind, Vert's ruined my schtick. Man, just when you try to catch a little break and finally have some fun...

Adrian squinted his eyes, snarling at the untransformed Lady Green Heart, her Gungnir drawn and ready to dish out whatever it would take to win. In the background, the girls and side characters could only back away as more and more invincible corpses rose from nowhere, but they were the least of the boy's concerns right now. Here the goddess was, eyeing his every move and preparing to lash out the moment he did anything. All he had to do was press the Select button on the page-based "Ghost" controller, and he could send himself back to a mere few minutes ago, where none of this humiliation would happen...

... But where was the fun in that? You must understand, Adrian was... well, not in the right state of mind anymore, be it because of the "Infinite Fury" cheat (which if you remember from the last story, grants you immense strength, but at the risk of reducing your brain to that of a deranged sociopathic psychopath... Well, something like that, at least), or just from pure anger at his brothers failing him... or himself failing Isara.

But getting to the point... sure, he could try to send himself back and summon forth invincible monsters from the start... but then, this gloating version of Vert standing right here would never face her retribution. Sure, in his timeline, she'd cease to exist... but he wanted to destroy her. Not a Vert of the past, not the rest of the CPUs of the past, not the rest of all the horrible monstrous tyrants of the past... Adrian wanted to destroy the imbeciles right here, right now.

... He still had an idea in mind that would use the Level Select cheat, however.

A common image today, Adrian began chuckling like the maddest man of them all. And believe me, I know mad. "Lady Vert... I admit, you may just be the smartest goddess of the four. Incredibly lazy, but the most promising by far..." A cocky wag of his outstretched finger. "... I can't have that; that makes it worse, in fact! So much potential... yet you choose to be a pure monster to the people. A neglectful parent who tosses their child aside for booze or self-fulfillment."

Green Heart was not intimidated, maintaining her full composure while also raising her weapon a tad more. "Talk all you want. Who's the real monster here? You tried choking out an innocent woman; you speak nothing but empty words and vows. You're a fraud."

"... Guess I was wrong; you're an idiot," the leader laughed. His finger still hovered over the SELECT button, and his breathing was calmer than ever. "... I can't have idiots in this world... MY world... And you know what? This tome... gives me all the strength in the universe! I can get rid of anyone, in any way I want! I just have to get creative, heh heh..."

Now it was time for Vert's eyes to narrow. "What are you going on about? Do you want to fight, or shall I strike that book out of your hands again?"

The left side of Adrian's lips grew into yet another sly grin. "I don't want to erase you from this world entirely; no, we must learn from the worst figures of history. From the mistakes of the past..." Where is he going with this? "... But maybe in another world, you don't have to exist. Maybe... there's a world where you were... never born."

Green Heart glared for a moment, unsure of what to say... so she instead dashed forth with her spear on the forefront. The villain dissipated in the air right as the pointed tip reached his stomach. He appeared instantly behind her.

"No no no, haven't you learned a thing?" What a cocky sunova bitch. "I guess words won't sink into your dense skull... Maybe THIS will!" Ding! Staring daggers straight at the tyrant, Adrian finally pressed the SELECT button, and his right arm began to glow a peculiar neon-blue color, and a static effect I can't identify resonated around his odd limb. If I had to hazard a guess... electricity? "Take that!" Bzzrt! I was right! Straight from his palm shot out a neon-blue lightning bolt, tearing through the dead air.

"Ha!" Green Heart taunted, flashing to the side in a green mirage-like variation of Adrian's previous move. Outmatched, buddy boy... Come on, can someone just slap somebody already!? I am getting tired of this stalling and crap! "Much too slow!" Agreed!

The brown-haired young man wasted little time and blasted out another bolt, and another, and another! Vert is fortunately on her game you must admit, considering the crappy evening she had last night. The goddess met the bolts with a few more simple instant teleportations; the beams shot through the air and into the horizon, the complete opposite side from where the rest of the party was, for the record. Oh, speaking of them, Cave and Cratus had now taken to blowing up the zombies, but that did nothing to stall the magic bodies. They're clearly not doing nearly as well as the goddess here.

Adrian was losing patience. "Stand still, bitch!" Zap! Another bolt, another miss. "DIE!" Zrp, nothing.

"You'll have to try better than that!" Vert's... not the most original with her taunts and gloating, dear readers. I apologize.

But in any case, this was getting him nowhere fast. "... That's it..." Thus, in desperation, the boy switched tactics on the fly: he abandoned the safe distance between himself and the woman, and instead dashed right towards her with his right hand in front, and the tome lagging behind in his left. "I'll send you back to before you were EVEN BORN!"

Vert's eyes widened as the boy's hand grew ever closer to her face, and the neon-blue beam of death began to flow from his open palm, aiming straight for her eyes. On instinct, she raised her spear and swatted upwards, catching the glowing hand and knocking it off target... right as the lightning bolt Level Select blast of doom fired out, coiling itself around Gungnir. Green Heart had little time to react, for the lightning worked as expected: it flowed along the spear like the world's fastest snake and rode all the way into her awaiting fist... W-Wait, oh shit! What!?

The CPU's eyes rolled into the back of her head as her grip refused to loosen... H-Huh, w-what's happening? Not only to Vert, but... m-my head! W-What's happenin-

_A sea of searing red flames, turning night into day. The fleet of ships are lit up with the intensity of a Thousand Suns. MY fleet._

_Fire fire fire fire fire fire firefirefirefirefirefirefirefirefirefire_

_Chi-... Dearest Chika!? Is that...? "They've turned on us, Vert. All of them... they want us out of the picture. If we... If we stay like this... then all of us will die."_

_Smoke... Smokesmokesmokesmokefiresmokefiresmokefiresmokefiresmokefiresmoke_

_"You villain! I'll... I'll never forgive you!" N-Nisa!? How did this...  
><em>

_Hazy... Everything's hazy. I can't see a thing... IF? Chika!? W-Where have you go-_

_"So, you've come this far, and still you understand nothing! What have you proved today? That you can beat up innocent, starving citizens of Gamindustri? That with your strength and 'bonds,' you can bully anyone that speaks their mind and says something that YOU don't like? Well, congrats! You've proved I was right all along... That ALL of us were right all along!"_

_Foolish boy... Everything I do, I do in the best interests of everyone. You wouldn't understand... No, no one will understand. No one CAN understand._

_"I'm... scared, Lady Vert... I need to make sure Lyree is safe."_

_Always with the unnecessary formalities... Stay with me, dearest IF, and you both will be in good, good hands._

_"... Thank you, Lady Vert."_

_running where am i going i cant see a thing im scared too so scared help me someone please i cant do this help help home want to go home need to go home_

_"Even if the whole world turns against you... I will always remain by your side."_

_Even if the whole world burns, Chika? My dearest sister... What then?_

_liar liar liar get out of my head i can see you feel you no go away leave me alone no_

_Everything I do... is to help. I don't need people to understand... As long as I believe in my mission, then I can do anything. If need be... I will MAKE everyone understand me. Appreciate all I do for them. Help me build a better world._

_"You can't do this!" But I can._

_imfallingcantstandcantbreathedrowninggaspingchokingdyingdyingdyin-_

_A tombstone... IF. A tombstone... Chika. Why? Why did this...? Everyone betrayed me. Neptune, Noire, Blanc... My enemies. They turned on me; threw me out the window and to the curb. IF, Chika... I-I'm sorry. I couldn't... I couldn't save you..._

_... No, but I CAN save you, can't I?_

_The future... This is the future. This isn't a dream..._

_It's a vision._

_The whole world, people I thought were my friends... They'll turn on me. Destroy everything I love._

_soaringflyingsprintingdashingrunningwalkingcrawlingkneeling_

_A tombstone... Green Heart, savage. Beast. Monster. Dictator. Tyrant. Overlord. Devil.  
><em>

_... No! No no no no no no no no no no no no! I won't let that happen! I can't let that happen!_

_Stronger! I'll need to become stronger! Only then can I protect the ones I love._

_From the world the universe the heavens the gods my fate my destiny_

_..._

_The sea of flames... In a way, it's kinda soothing._

...

...? Huh... Whew, the hell? Oh well... I think I'm back in my... bulky, humongous body.

... Okay, let's see here... O-Oh yeah, Adrian semi-blasted Vert with that Level Select lightning bolt, and...

Adrian, now back to his normal, human form, sat back with his right knee up, looking on with the biggest delighted wide-eyed expression he had ever worn. "Ha... hehaha...? Ha, I... I did it! I... I killed her!" Oh... Oh dear.

The crowd of girls eyeing the now-hundreds of zombies turned their heads at the brown-haired young man's arrogant laughter... and morale dropped faster than a lead weight.

IF and Chika, understandably, were the first to react. "L-Lady Vert!" "Verty!" Without any hesitation, the two ran right for the downed goddess, her eyes closed shut and her body still.

The brunette, shocked tears in her eyes, began to shake her dear friend's shoulders. "C-Compa! P-Please hurry!"

The medic wasn't far behind, halfway to IF when she called out. "I-I'm here! Let me take a look... N-N-Nobody panic!"

Cave blasted the zombies again to no avail, and tightly closed her eyes, trying to block out her own thoughts of her fallen friend. Neptune, likewise, couldn't even think of something to say for the second time that day. Vert... dead?

But no matter what, they couldn't focus on that now; there were still countless amounts of rising invincible dead things, and more spawning by the second. A clean escape would be impossible at this point, as they were blocking the way down. Only Gust, Nepgeo, the rat, and Hank could make it away at this rate, but they were too worried about Nisa especially to just abandon them all. Now, maybe the group could run through these things... but, seeing as they looked like zombies, no one wanted to risk getting bit, especially by magic zombies. Rock-hard magic zombies that mass-multiply and could probably withstand a nuke... this day turned south fast. Better than Adrian could have ever hoped.

So, the summit was becoming more crowded by the second, soon to risk overflowing off the entire mountainside... The girls need to figure out something, fast! Dammit, if only... I could... do... something... Oh, who am I kidding?

Adrian continued to chuckle at all the chaos that HE himself had started... but then, he noticed something important. "... Hm? That bitch must've caused me to de-transform when she slapped my damn hand. Hold on... Can't win without my HDD form engaged..." He reached for the cheat tome, which was no doubt stressed beyond belief by now. Surely all those zombies would wear on the book, wouldn't you think? Like, you can't constantly keep opening new web pages on your computer without closing a few, right?

...

But to the three girls screaming at the lifeless goddess, none of this mattered anymore. "No... Please, no... No! Vert!? L-Lady Vert!?" the brunette sobbed, refusing to let go of the CPU's shoulders.

The flames of disaster were ignited.

Tears streamed down Chika's face, her mind and body numb to everything. This was a dream, right? "S-She's not moving!"

Cave's heart skipped a beat, hearing her friend yell out with so much emotion... However, this way of thinking would get them nowhere. They would all end up like Vert if these things continued to corner them. "They're closing in... We can't hold them off forever! We must do something, fast!"

Things were dire; beyond repair, it seemed. They'd need a miracle to make it out alive.

...

The chaos... had awakened.

"V-Vert! I-It's me, Vert! Head towards your sister's loving voice!"

"P-Please wake up! Compa, why isn't she waking up!?"

"I-I don't know! Does anyone have any water!?"

"Come on, don't do this!"

"S-She needs water!"

"Wake UP!"


	6. Ignition mk2

"MRRRRFFF! MRRPFFF!" SLAM!

A hooded green-haired girl with oddly colored skin slammed a large wooden door shut, locking several familiar tied-up girls inside. She laced her fingers together and brought her hands to her mouth, perhaps contemplating some serious concern. After a minute, though, she shook her head.

"... This better be worth it, Judge." Ugh...

... Anyways, Underling swiped her hands across each other as she walked down the regal halls of Lowee's Basilicom, the portraits of White Heart and her sisters seemingly staring into the villain's soul. She just had to do this one thing, and Magic would finally, FINALLY be back in her life. A little kidnapping to do just that never hurt anybody.

... At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

"... How the hell will those brats get Magic back?... Though, it did feel good finally getting to see those two kids get their comeuppance for the hell they dragged us through on Christmas... even if Judge and that creepy guy did all the work." A turn here, a turn there, step step step, another turn... and viola, Linda found herself in the Basilicom's central lobby, where... ugh, HE stood at the ready.

The large... stupid-looking and not-at-all-cool black robot mech thing nodded at seeing his ally step in. "You've returned at last! Surely the incapacitated Candidates didn't present you with any problems?"

The girl shook her head. "H-Heh, nope, no trouble for me, sir! The black-haired brat started to wake up, but I doubt she even knew it was me... heh heh..." Not a lot of confidence there.

"I see... Great, then!" CFW... Judge cheered, his neon-blue eyes... er, not able to show joy or any emotion at all besides rage, really. "It pains me to abduct these girls, it really does... but if all goes to plan, we will get Magic back, and they will make it out unharmed as well!" Well, good for you... freak.

Underling nodded her hooded head; that mouse hoodie has done more in this fic series than Pirachu has. "A-Aye aye, CFW Judge, sir!... But, er, if you don't mind me asking... um, what is the game plan exactly? Who the hell s that Gan... Ganacheese creep? And, why did we need to tie up the Candidates, besides how fun it was? What's our end goal? How does this help Magic? How do we know if we won?" Frankly, I'm 157% with her on this; what the hell IS... Judge's plan?

The mech-like being stared at the much-smaller villain, his orbs of light analyzing her face. "... Dearest Linda, you ask too many questions. Trust me, that's all I can ask of you. Let me follow my grand design, and you shall soon see the bigger picture..." He paused for a moment, bringing a metallic hand to his over-sized chin area... Oh geez, he looks so dumb. "... Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky. Gives us free scope; only doth backward pull our slow designs when we ourselves are dull."

... Uh, what? "Uh, what?" See, I know her. Our dearest green-haired broad could only scratch her head in confusion... as is the case for I, quite frankly.

Judge made a sound which I can only presume is supposed to be laughter. "Just trust in me, dearest Linda! The way forward may be unclear and may seem completely impossible to grasp... but I know what it is that I am doing. Believe in my vision." Did... that explain anything of what he said before?

But, Underling is a smart-enough girl; she knew that was the most she'd ever get out of... her higher-up. "... Understood, CFW Judge, sir... I'll be walkin' around, I guess... Call me when I'm needed, or something..." With an awkward bow, the villain turned back into the hallway.

... Man, right about now, she seriously missed Nepgeo... Hell, she flippin' missed Nisa and Gust! "... Never thought I'd want to watch anime featuring girls with no pants so badly... Just gotta get through this, ya idiot. Do whatever this is, then Magic's free, then we'll join back up with Geo, and then... I don't know, we teach Magic how to seductively put clothes on other girls... Dear goddess, Nepgeo's made me into a pervert..." The girl continued to muse on down the hall, passing a door that she failed to notice was slightly open. Hmm... Ah, why the heck not? Let's see what's happenin' in here...

"You mentioned my NAME!?" Jade shouted... in a whispering tone... Just take my word for it, okay? "How dumb are you!?"

The boy the aristocrat was screaming at, none other than Ganache, nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Heh heh... Er, sorry?"

"Sorry won't cut it! No one can know I helped those... _things_ in... I'm "entirely" on the side of the CPUs, remember?"

The glasses-wearing young man wore a dumb-looking expression on his face. "Uh, y-yeah, right, I know! I just... er, well, y'know..."

Had Jade had the powers of a CPU, he could've struck down his insolent colleague in one blow... But, until Singe finished that weapon he requested, such power would not be with him. He had to put up with this useless prick. "... Idiot, how the hell are you even an Avenir employee?..." Ganache raised his finger to speak. "No, no, don't... don't answer that... Just, don't screw anything up, okay? I promised you could deal with Blanc's girlfriend yourself when the time came... Be patient, and I'll make sure you get what you want."

The dark-brown-haired boy thought for a moment before nodding and flashing a thumbs up sign. "You can count on me, then! Oh, and I wouldn't worry too much, Jade; that purple-gray skinned chick barely remembers my name! I'm sure she's forgotten yours!"

"... You better be right." The aristocrat refused to take too many chances, though... When the game plan went into full swing, he'd just have to make sure to stay out of sight when Underling became a factor. "... Well, head on back out there. I'll be waiting in here for... the THING to send word."

"You got it... boss..." Hmm... I sense resentment not only coming from Jade, but also from Ganache. They seem like worse allies than Adrian, Almaz, and Alex. And you know, in that situation, one went insane, one betrayed said insane brother, and the third brother went AWOL.

... Well, whatever the case, this sure is weird. Jade said something about Ganache "dealing with Blanc's girlfriend"... Can't get more cryptic than that... Only, you can, by several degrees.

... And wait: Jade also said that no one can know he helped those "things" inside the castle... Things being Judge and Linda? That's not very nice; Linda's a woman, albeit one without human-looking skin. That... Judge thing can be called a, well, thing, but "things?"

... Hm, there's not... someone else here... is there?

...

**ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL**

* * *

><p>Now then... where were we? Oh yeah...<p>

The scene atop the mountain could not be any more hectic. Enough zombies had spawned to make the whole area look like a grey lake if you just happened to be a passing bird. Worse yet, even with our brilliant and invincible protagonists, what with their explosives and their machine guns and their breasts of varying shapes and sizes, no one could stop these undead fiends. Bullet sponge zombies to the infinite power... Lovely. All the group could do was mass-fire at the things to hopefully slow down their movements towards the edge of the cliff.

Oh... And can't forget that Lady Green Heart was caught by an errant cheat code and has since been rendered... well, lifeless. The crying IF and Chika could attest to that.

And in this carnage, one boy stood back up, amazed at all he was responsible for. Victory was almost at hand... However, Adrian had one thing left over from the last chapter to do: Use the Infinite Fury cheat once again to restore his mock-HDD state, which had apparently left him after Vert struck his hand in her last moments of life.

"Here we go..." He needed to make this as dramatic as possible, though; you know, relish in the turning tides. "... You will all be like poor little Green Heart in a matter of minutes, everyone! I grant you one last chance to surrender before I deal the finishing blow!"

The boy's cocky words caused to two despairing girls to slowly turn their heads, death literally oozing from their eyes. Chika was the first to stand, and she began storming towards the murderer. "You... You ki... What did you do to MY VERT!?"

A monstrous grin from ear to ear. "You can't say it? Well, let me help you with that: I- KILLED- her. I killed your precious little Vert. She's D-E-A-D! Next... Here, I'll be kind; Hows about I let you join her right away?"

Chika didn't even reply; she clenched both her fists, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, lunged at the evil villain. Her right fist flew towards his face, but he hopped backwards, and the devastated oracle stumbled to her knees. He was simply toying with her; insolent humans like her could never hope to lay a solitary dirty digit on his holy being!

"C-Chika!" IF shouted, still busy shaking Vert like a bottle of chocolate milk. Compa beside her was busy panicking, trying to remember all that she learned in nurse school. I bet you none of her lessons would've covered a Level Select cheat code straight to the brain.

Adrian chuckled at the brunette's cries, then turned to look at the crowd of girls busy blasting away at the zombies. Cave was looking straight at him, but she couldn't just stop shooting to attack him, as her powerful blasts were one of the few things slowing down the invincible daemons. She could only stare bloody death towards the rebel leader.

However, one girl did begin heading in his direction: a blank-eyed Neptune.

The brown-haired young man shook his head, a light smirk on his lips that seemed to call the purple-haired goddess a full-blown idiot. "Neptune, come to surrender? Even you can't be this dumb." Chika took this moment to reach for Adrian's leg, but he kicked her in the face half-heartedly. The oracle grabbed her nose, and sobbed into her hand.

Neptune looked at Chika for a second, then slowly lifted her head up to her target. "Aidrey... W-"

"No, actually, don't say anything! I don't want to deal with any stupidity right now!"

In the crowd, the ever-annoyed Femme Sandiego stopped his fire for a second, and turned to take a potshot at the villain. The bullet hit yet another invisible barrier surrounding the boy. "... Yeah." Yeah.

Adrian ran a hand through his dirty-looking hair. "I win, Neptune. Plain and simple. In the end, justice always finds a way to win." With grand flourish, he lifted the tome in his left hand high above his head, twirling it in a circular motion, before bringing it before his face. "Now... before we conclude this pathetic game, I'd like to end it with some kind of bang! I'll show my only instance of kindness for you tyrants: I can win without my HDD, but to not hurt your egos too bad, I'll reclaim my rightful power as an heir to Pale Heart! Rest well knowing that you were all killed not by a mere human, but by a GOD!" Button press, button press, button press. Now for the confirmation button, and... "Revel in my divinity!"

**Ignition ****mk2**- BZZRT!

... Huh? Wait... Huh?

Adrian's grin remained, but his eyes began darting from left to right in sheer confusion. "Um... I'll try again... Submit!"

**Ignition m**- BZZRT!

IF, her eyes as blank as Neptune's, stared at the boy with her head cocked to the side. Chika, likewise, stared as she stood back up, wiping her mouth in the process.

"What's...? Come on... Again!"

**Ignit**- BZZRT!

Another press.

**Ignit**- BZZRT!

Another.

BZZRT!

Another.

BZZRT!

Neptune curiously tilted her head much like IF, and opened her mouth as if to say something.

BZZRT!

No longer did the brown-haired young man carry his look of confidence. "W-What are you doing!? Work, dammit! Do what I TELL YOU TO!"

BZZRT! BZZRT! BZZRT! BZ-... And then, an eerie silence overcame the whole mountaintop. The invincible zombies stopped moving, as if their software had completely frozen. The book made no more buzzing sounds, despite Adrian continuing to jam on the START button. Everyone, and everything, stopped making a single noise; it was as if the 'Crucial Codes' had sucked in all sounds.

Silence, silence, sil- BOOM!

With a deafening roar that could have pierced the heavens, all the noise in the universe seemingly erupted from the book, almost as if a mini-nuke had gone off in Adrian's hands. A wave of mysterious blue dust filled the air, reaching far enough to hit even Gust, Nepgeo, Hank, and the rat, who were hiding out of sight. Like a powerful shock-wave, everyone was knocked off-balance, even sending Cave to her knees. The three remaining CPUs, however, fared the worst; a searing pain resonated throughout their chests, and they promptly collapsed one-by-one, Neptune falling first possibly due to her close proximity to the tome. Holy shit, what's... happening? The blue dust is filling the air like a freakin' sandstorm! I can't see a thing... Can't see a damn thi-

...

... Oh... the dust is... gone...? It just... vanished?

The air became clear in just as much time as it took for it to fill with that weird... stuff. The confusing event done, Adrian slowly opened his eyes, finding himself flat on his stomach, and the cheat tome just an arm's-length away. With a strained effort, he clawed his way over to it.

A fair bit away, Cave unshielded her eyes and looked up, everything back to normal. Her first instinct was to look over to where 5pb. had stood just a few moments before. "Lyrica... Are you alright? You are not harmed, correct?"

The blunette pushed herself up and smiled lightly at the SMD Warrior. "Y-Yeah, I think I'm okay... Ow, head kind of hurts, but other than that...!" An uncharacteristic tight hug silenced the pop idol.

"Thank goddess..." A moment of relief passed by, but a sudden thought quickly rushed Cave back into reality. "W-Wait, the zombies! What are..." A confused Fivey watched as her friend jumped up and again armed herself, taking aim at... nothing. "... They're... gone?" Indeed they were, apparently. Not a single mass of rotting flesh remained... Did the book's magic... literally explode? Was I right last time when I guessed that the tome was overheating?

Everyone slowly stood, and promptly came to the same observation as the elegant warrior. "T-They're... g-g-g-gone?" Bimmy Hatchet sputtered, holding onto Saturn Shiro for support. "We... won?"

Sumas scowled, an impatient hand on her hip. "Well, that was... anticlimactic."

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Nisa called out, trying to rub away the headache the explosion left her with. "It is discouraging to not be able to dish out the ultimate justice, but at least we are all o-"

"Nisey!"

"W-Woah!" Interrupting the heroine were two groups of arms, one from a girl her size, and one from a much smaller figure.

"Nisey, I was so scared!" Nepgeo cried, her eyes cartoonishly spouting off tears. "Those creepy zombies things started to look at us! B-But I kept little Gusty safe, no matter what!"

The small alchemist's eyes grew exceptionally narrow. "Like hell you did." Still, even the stubborn business-girl (woman?) felt an immense amount of relief that her best friend was alive and well. Heh heh, if only Gust and Geo actually did something to help. Oh, and I guess the rat is still watching over Hank around the bend.

Anyways, basic gist is, the invincible monsters were no longer a problem to face... which just left the weak crawling boy who had killed Lady Green Heart.

Adrian had made it to the tome and was trying every single cheat he could. "Level Select!?" Bzzrt! "Big Head Mode!?" Bzzrt! "Mirror World!? Spontaneous Human Combustion!? Easy Money!? No, no, no!" His whole world came crashing down, and he didn't even know why. What had he done wrong? Victory was nearly upon him!

In his woes, the CPUs managed to rise to their feet. "Crap... Feels like I kicked my own ass..." Blanc muttered, her chest burning inside, but otherwise feeling fine. "The hell...?... W-Wait!" The foul-mouthed goddess darted her eyes around the battlefield, searching for one specific person... There! "Shit... So... Thunder Tits really..."

Clear for all to see, Lady Green Heart still remained on her back, eyes shut and chest still. It... well, doesn't look good.

Noire was next to stand, and she reached to pick Neptune up. "Crap... How'd this happen? I... can't believe it..."

Even the purple-haired ditz was in shock, the pain in her chest little more than an after-thought. A whole swarm of emotions she rarely ever felt were swimming around in her head, to the point of being nearly suffocating. All she could do was avoid looking at Vert, and instead walk back over to Adrian. Honestly, that's all anyone could do, so the whole party soon found themselves crowded around the pathetic leader of the Yellow Bandanas.

"Work, work! Dammit, listen to ME!" the now-sitting brown-haired young man hollered at the lifeless tome. "Work, work, work, workworkworkworkworkworkworkwork!"

Neptune finally spoke once again. "Aidrey..."

His clouded eyes drifted upwards. "What!? Leave me alone! I'm Pale Heart! This is my destiny! I AM STRONGER! THAN! YO-" Slap! Bam, dang! The ditz's hand smacked the brown-haired young lunatic's cheek so hard that the sound echoed across the still-dead air, and Adrian could only sit wide-eyed in response. "... You...?"

The purple-haired goddess frowned. "You... You're the tyrant, Aidrey! Yer just a... a meanie! A monster! A villain!" A spiteful cross of the arms. "... You're not my friend anymore!" Crap, I've never seen her act like this! Her happy-go-lucky attitude must've died with Vert.

The boy was about to speak, still clutching the tome for dear life, when another voice reached his ears. "... It's over, bro. Please, give up already..." It was Almaz, who was holding the hurt Rei in his arms. "... This isn't what we wanted. You told me and Alex that you planned to bring hope to the people, and fight injustice... But Neptune's right, bro; you're the biggest monster here."

Adrian was speechless. His own pathetic younger brother, too much of a coward to walk down the street alone, was telling him off. Was insulting not only him, but his very mission! That familiar rage built up inside again... No, it couldn't end like this! Everyone needed to die!

Out of sight of the party, who were busy surrounding the rebel leader, a dead set of fingers began to twitch. Twitch, twitch, twitch, twitch, bend, bend... The dead hand was now a fist.

Flipping the unresponsive tome to the very first page, Adrian laughed inside as he saw the glowing number shining from the book: 1. Level One. The Level 50 tome had now regressed back to the very point it had been nearly a year ago, when Arfoire gave the three brothers the damn thing in the first place.

"..." Speechless. That solitary digit seemed to mock the brown-haired crazed boy, almost as if it were a rather unflattering hand gesture. How insulting... Why had Pale Heart allowed this to happen? Why was Pale Heart mocking HIM!?

... So, what could he do now? His magic tome was practically useless. Here he was, surrounded by an army, sitting on his knees. Groveling on his knees.

"... I hate you. I hate all of you. You, Neptune. You, Noire. You, Blanc. You, all of their mindless lackeys. You, Almaz. You, Rei." The boy looked back up into Neptune's darkened face for a second, grinning to himself, before moving to look at the downtrodden Chika and IF. "... And can't forget you two, and that pathetic dead sack of waste you seem to care so much about. All of you can rot like her. You'd be more useful as worm feed."

The oracle's eyes flared with unmitigated rage, but Cave appeared behind to restrain her... despite wanting more than anything to let the woman loose.

Kei took this moment to step forward, Histoire in tow. After clearing her throat, she spoke. "Adrian... well, no last name... You're hereby under arrest. You've caused enough harm for a lifetime; I figure you should be stored away for an equal amount of time to compensate."

Adrian smirked up at the boyish woman, shaking his head. "Go to hell, freak. Why, get me one on one in a room with you, and I'll twist your fat little neck in so many different ways, they won't be able to tell it was ever attached in the first place."

"That is quite enough!" Huh? Who said tha- W-Wait, hold on!?

All eyes turned at the sound of the stunning voice, and immediately, screams and gasps filled the sky, soaring high enough to reach the next galaxy over.

A set of wobbly legs stumbled over to the insane boy, coming to a stop a mere spear-length away from him. Adrian could only cock his head, his mind dead to the world. "... No... Screw you! You're dead! I killed you! I killed you!"

The figure standing tall before him was none other than the dead CPU, Lady Vert. The whole cast stood slack-jawed, quite frankly... Hell, if I had a proper mouth, I'm sure I would look just the same. She's been lifeless the entire scene so far! How...? Is this a miracle?

Chika slapped herself twice before opening her mouth to speak, but the goddess raised a finger to keep her silent. She reached for Gungnir and pointed it at the last remaining remnant of the Yellow Bandanas, her eyes doing all the talking for her.

The young man stared for but a moment more before breaking out into a fit of disjointed giggles. "Ha hahaha! HAHA!" With a lightning-fast motion, he hopped up off his knees and back onto his feet for the first time since the tome's magic exploded. Cave took out her scissors, but Vert made a similar hand motion to halt her in her tracks as well. This only served to make the boy... laugh more? "... What's this? The little dead girl comes back to life and wants me to kill her again? HA! This is too good!"

Green Heart's spear rose higher. "... Well? If you want to kill me, then face me!"

"He heh heh... Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm all out of ammo, so you'll have to kill yourself today. Unless you want to strike down an innocent bystander? But, where's the fun in that?"

Vert glared at the unarmed boy. "... You're right... Someone, give him a weapon."

IF yelled first. "W-What!? T-The hell would we... No! What's gotten into y-"

"... Here." Neptune interrupted, pulling out her stock sword and tossing it to Adrian's feet, the blade clanging against the rock. "Now you can kick his patootie, Verty-Berty!" Crap Nep Nep... Er, is it alright if I call her that?

The brown-haired young man smiled to himself, realizing how easy it would be to pick up this sword and slash straight through one of these pathetic human beings' delicate necks before getting struck down by everyone else... but he didn't do that. No, instead, he bent down to pick up the blade and held it firmly in his right hand, the 'Crucial Codes' held tight in his left. She wanted a duel, he'd give her one. The rest of the party backed away, giving the two fighters space.

"... Alright... I'm ready, tyrant." Chhhiiing! I love the sound a blade makes!... E-Er, sorry. "Give me your best sh-" Before he could finish talking, Lady Green Heart rushed both her arms downwards in some stock powering up pose, and she disappeared in an all-too familiar flash of light. When the blinding transformation ended, Lady Green Heart was now in her very-revealing HDD form, and her Gungnir was replaced with a drill lance capable of making any masculine man envious. O-Oh boy.

... And wait... Did anyone else notice that? When she transformed, there was... I don't know, something looked... different? Like, when she engaged HDD, I coulda swore I saw a faint hint of that blue dust that the tome let out, almost like she released some of it... Hm, maybe it was just caught in her clothes...?

Adrian completely caught off-guard, Vert swung the drill upwards, knocking Neptune's sword straight out of his hands. Chhhiiing! Hell yeah! Before he could even move a single limb, the CPU followed through with a swift left kick straight to the boy's left hand, causing the cheat tome to fly out of reach and make contact with the dirty ground. All of this happened in a matter of seconds; a few short, short seconds spelled the end.

"I didn't say I wanted a fair duel." Vert boasted, her smile returning to her once-pale face. One right kick to the chest later, and Adrian found himself lying face-up on the ground, a stone digging into his back. He was defeated, completely helpless and powerless. A mere mortal struck down by the powers of HDD.

...

Yet another familiar dramatic silence filled the group for but a moment... before erupting into pure insanity!

"V-Verty! W-W-Waaaaah!" "L-L-Lady Vert! I-I-I-I..." "Welcome back to the land of the living, Verty-Berty! It wouldn'ta been the same without you!" "... Idiot. Don't scare us like that." "Geez, I'm the only one who can kill ya Thunder Tits." "Group hug, my fair sisters!"

The newly revived Lady Green Heart, still in her glorious HDD state, was clearly overwhelmed by all this unusual attention. "M-My... I'm quite alright, but thank you, everyone! Did you honestly think an uncouth teenager like him could really put me down?" Before anyone else could reply, she turned her attention back to the seething boy whose eyes were closed shut. "... Look at me! What you've done is, to put it bluntly, an affront to everything us CPUs stand for. Men have died today, you've held innocent women hostage, you've used cheat codes to brainwash countless amounts of people, and, last I've heard, your 'supporters' have taken control of a few Planeptune cities. In less than three weeks, you've caused the most trouble we've seen since ASIC... Oh, and let us not forget that everyone apparently says you killed me. I... take personal offense to that..." The goddess flipped her sea-foam green ponytail like a sophisticated cheerleader. "With all of this, no one would bat an eyelash if I struck you down for good... In fact, I'm sure there'd be cheers if I do that."

Adrian rolled his weakened eyes and squinted up at the victorious dictator. "... Then do it. Kill me, Green Heart. Show the world how violent you really are. How bloodthirsty that drill of yours is. KILL. ME."

Histoire rose her small finger to speak, but this time Mina shook her head; this was Vert's moment, it seemed. All eyes were on her.

"... No. Kill you and make you a martyr for any other lunatics out there? I'm sorry, but that is simply out of the question. So, I need to determine a proper punishment for you that still involves keeping your head on your shoulders..." An inquisitive hand to her chin, perhaps simply intended to make a mockery of the brown-haired young man. "... Ah, yes! In exchange for all the inconvenience, treason, and disaster you've wrought... perhaps an emotional type of torture would be the best option." T-Torture? Vert's kinda scaring me with this tone, guys... W-Well, I guess I'd be pissed too if someone killed me.

The boy looked into the crowd and caught a glimpse of Almaz's concerned face, but he turned back to the CPU. "Torture me? Typical tyrant."

Vert nodded at Chika, and the oracle nodded back and whispered something to Kei. As the two conversed about... something(?), she continued. "Join my army. You fail to grasp all that it takes to be a leader of a nation, and what I must do to keep everything running... so perhaps a few years as a Leanbox guard will set you straight. Who knows; maybe you'll eventually qualify for a desk job. Maybe in five years' time, you can be Noire's secretary, even."

Noire's eye twitched. "Hey! I'd never have a secretary like him!" Is this the issue at hand, really?

"Yeahzers! No Aidrey in our flower garden! Noire would only ever hire cute chickadees as secretaries, anyways!" Thank you, Neptune... Hey, at least the light is returning to her eyes. Maybe seeing the villain get knocked on his ass multiple times served as some form of mental relief.

Vert smiled knowingly to herself. "Whatever the case, I do believe that this'd be a most delicious punishment, wouldn't you agree? Help the CPUs run the world? Help the so-called 'tyrants?'"

The former leader of the Yellow Bandanas could only stare up at the horrible women, his eyes filled with pure malice and literally at the brink of exploding like a hydrogen bomb. He replied in the best way he could: A massive spit wad to her face. Green Heart wiped the disgusting liquid off her forehead, no emotion on her features.

"... I take it that is your answer?"

"You can take your job and shove it right up your disease-ridden ass. I will never help you, any of you. Better just kill me; I'd rather leap off this mountain than serve you. Working for you wouldn't be torture; it'd be idiotic. You can't trust me, and you never will be able to trust me. At the first chance I get, I'll have a knife to your jugular. That's a fact."

Chika looked back over to her darling 'sister.' "He's right, Vert. I would never let him step anywhere close to our castle, let alone in our army!"

The CPU nodded. "... I suppose you are right... Oh well, it was worth a shot!" In a blink of an eye, the drill weapon rose high in the air, the tip directed for the boy's blank left eye... Oh goddess, she's not really gonna...!? T-This isn't that kind of fic!

Adrian, unlike me, could only grin. "Yes, yes! Kill me! Destroy me! Leave nothing of me behind! Release me from this awful planet! Do it!"

With a loud boom, the drill came crashing down... into the rocks, just a few inches from the boy's head. The villain was serious; he hadn't even flinched. No perspiration adorned his face... He was calmer than ever before.

"... No, I said I will not kill you... But, where else are prisoners to go? Why, to jail, of course!" On cue, Chika and Kei walked up, holding high-security handcuffs. The sassy oracle kicked the boy so now his face was back in the dirt, and the boyish woman calmly snapped the chains around his hands, firmly restraining him... Great, more chains. "I gave you a chance to keep your freedom, but you quite soundly talked me out of it. You leave me no other choice but to lock you away from the world." Another elegant ponytail flip; is she... having fun with this? "A 'tyrant' would not have been this kind... Remember that, Adrian."

The brown-haired young man was hoisted up by his conjoined wrists, resigned to his fate. To be taken prisoner by a CPU... How insulting. He could instead be smashed against the ground at the foot of the mountain right now, his blood becoming one with the soil... Oh, if only. Being a prisoner was the worst fate imaginable. But, like a good insane boy, he remained as silent as the stones the party were standing on. No use fighting now.

The group was quiet as well, not sure how to react, and they all looked to Kei and Histoire for some type of confirmation or guidance. Lastation's oracle glanced over at Blanc for a second before opening her mouth to deliver a potential mission directive... when Vert spoke out again, startling everyone (heh, again). "... Histoire! I want you and Mina to take that tome. Do with it as you wish: study it, destroy it, lock it away from the universe, what have you. Whatever the case, it mustn't be allowed to fall in the hands of any more troublemakers ever again, understand?" The book fairy and Lowee's scholar nodded at once, already figuring to do just that anyways. Eyeing Adrian cautiously, the bespectacled woman bent down and picked the 'Crucial Codes' up as delicately as possible, almost as if it were a potent atom bomb... Have I used an excess of bomb comparisons lately?

The transformed Lady Green Heart made some sort of semi-sarcastic bow towards Kei, signaling that it was her turn to speak. "... Ah, ahum... Well, first things first: let's get off this mountain already. I never thought I'd miss the smog of the cities this much..." the boyish woman announced, and everyone nodded in response before... er, quietly turning to walk away... Wow... Something about this is... real lackluster, wouldn't you say? I mean, come on, guys: you won! Why aren't... they cheering? Vert lived, the zombies vanished, Adrian was defeated... What's with all the solemn faces?

Huh... I... I don't understand people, really... No surprise, right? I'm far from human... B-But, you know what? I... kinda don't feel like celebrating this victory either. I... think I get why they're sad... They stopped the villain, but, in some form or another, even the happy-go-lucky Neptune saw and heard things today that... well, made her rethink herself. Why had Adrian turned into this twisted shell of the boy he once appeared to be? Were the... CPUs to blame? Was everything he accused them of... that far off from the truth?

... Well, whatever the case, the party finally began to head down, Chika and Vert escorting Adrian at the end of the group. The brown-haired young man never stopped looking ahead, his eyes tearing into the skull of his former brother Almaz. After a long while of nothing, the leader's horrid voice screamed out, startling everybody.

"... Almaz... You got what you wanted, Almaz!" The timid brother kept walking forward, clutching Rei's arm tight. "You got what you wanted all along!" Tighter. "All along, Almaz!" Tighter. "You and Alex never cared! But that's alright, bro! I understand." Tighter. "I understand... What, no apology? No pathetic stuttering? So, you choose to shut yer ass now?" Tighter; he was practically squeezing the silver-haired girl's arm now. "Almaz, look at me! I just want to talk, _brother_!"

A lone tear dropped from the younger brown-haired boy, but he never looked back at the monster calling out for him. Could never look back.

"Almaz! ALMAZ!"

...

Maybe it was because everyone was worried about getting ambushed on the way, just in case the rebels had one more trick up their sleeves, but no one said a word to each other the whole way down. Sure, Nat Hail and Nepgeo muttered under their breaths about having to carry the recovering Hank, Gust mumbled about searching the crash site for her staff, Chika glomped her darling Vert, Mina flipped through a few pages of her new tome, and Neptune was starting to get her standard ditzy groove back... but it was all muted and self-contained. Hmm... Let's just assume this is what heading back from a tough mission is always like, and we just never get to see it...

...

Anyways, at long last, the unthinkable finally happened: by God everyone, we are no longer on this crappy mountain! The last of the cast touched down onto the flat earth, and now, dear readers, we find ourselves back where the beginning of Chapter 1 took place! Oh man, I thought we'd never get past all those crappy climbing sections of the script! Hold on, let me muster it... Here we go: WOOHOO! Yeah! Screw what I said before; I feel like freakin' celebrating! I may still be chained down, but it feels like some veil over me has been lifted at the very least! It's done!

"... H-Hey... W-We made it!" Bimmy Hatchet cried out again, his cautious eyes glancing every which way. "W-We actually lived! Holy crap!" And, with the egg-boy's declaration, a similar veil seemed to have been lifted from the party as well! Roars of applause, cheers, whoops, yippees, hoe-rays- er, wait, typo-, guffaws, yo's, and even hurrahs and yaoi's rang out! Throughout this whole crappy day (and these whole crappy five chapters), only Chip had fallen! Everyone else, albeit a few with some bruises, was alive and well! Astounding, wasn't it?

Neptune, nearly defeated mentally just a few long minutes ago, now looked as if nothing troubled her. Noire, likewise, barely showed any signs of getting blasted in the chest with a fireball. Chika, Compa, IF, and Lyrica all embraced each other in some odd mutation of a hug, the brunette clearly showing signs of unease and embarrassment. Cave would've liked to join in on the hug... but there were public images to uphold, you must understand. Gust and Nisa flocked to the site of where their airship crashed, hoping to reclaim the alchemist's beloved staff. Nepgeo celebrated alone, staring at her orange-haired anime girl necklace longingly. This day had its ups and downs... Hopefully Linda's day was going better. It had to be, right?

The bodyguards celebrated in their own unique way, of course; they were outsiders to both you readers and the main cast still. However, that didn't stop them all from trying to fit in. "Whaddya say we all grab some beers on the way back and really party?" Nat Hail laughed, wrapping a suspicious arm around Lady Blanc.

"... Get offa me!" The quiet-yet-possibly-always-angry godess was too tired to push her off, though, so it was Sumas' duty to pry the Lastation soldier off of her leader.

"H-Hey! I was just getting friendly with her!"

"..."

You know, I'm still not sold on the point of giving these random bodyguards screen time. I mean, what's their purpose? Don't we have enough characters? Ah, whatever; maybe we should just "trust the Author" and have faith that this is all following some planned grand design, and we shouldn't ask too many questions... That is what 'Judge' said earlier, correct?

Let's just get moving... Hmm, maybe I can "tell" and not "show" some more, allowing us to rush on back home!

So, as most of the party cheered and all those other colorful terms I used earlier, a few specific key players split off to do their own things. Gust and Nisa raced to the other side of the mountain, for starters.

"Somewhere around here... Come on... There! Crashed ship!" the alchemist shouted to the following Nisa, her giant gloved finger indeed pointing at a similar crash site as the one we saw in the first chapter, albeit with only one downed vessel instead of several.

The blue-haired heroine nodded in response, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "Truly amazing how we made it out of that alive! Hmmmm... I reckon it isn't salvageable, dear sidekick?"

Gust was way ahead of her friend, already inside the ship, which was no longer burning (if we assume it was in the first place). Hell, even all possible smoke was gone... Is that how it works? "Gust is not sidekick!" Rummage rummage rummage bonk! rummage rummage. "... No way ship will fly again. Need other way home." Yeah, the fact that she's in the decapitated cockpit kinda made that obvious.

"Rats! Oh well, I'm sure the others must have a plan." Don't hold your breath. "Any sign of your staff, then?"

"Looking!" the (deceptively?) young girl shouted from within the dead aircraft. "Mmhmm... Mmmhhmmm..." Mmmmhhhmmmm? "... Aha! Gust found it!" Well, that was beyond easy. Triumphant in some small regard, the short girl dashed out of the safety hazard, her trusty staff in giant gloved hand. "Now just need to get back to cauld- Huh?"

The business-savvy alchemist once again found herself wrapped in a pair of familiar strong arms, and felt a soft presence resting against the top of her humongous hat. "I'm glad you're safe, Gust... I truly am..." Nisa whispered softly, showing a tender side she only broke out when no one else was looking. "After today, I feel like we can take on the world together, my dear friend!"

The girl, despite intending to complain at being bear-hugged for the second time the past hour, could only smile. "Nisa is so sappy. Of course Gust is fine!" she sighed, reaching around to hug her best friend back. "... Gust glad Nisa is safe too..." Daaaah, isn't this cute?... Hm, do these two have this exact same scene a lot? Or at least more than once? What's with this fanfic series and extremely repetitive scenes and words? Unoriginality, or running gag/ artistic license?... Ah, who cares; if you like or hate these scripts, you'll decide for yourself.

The two took a moment to finish their (more-than-friends?) hug, and it was back to business. "Alright, let us join back with our allies, dear Gusty! Can't have them move on without us!"

"Ahuhmm!"

...

Back with the main group that the two "lovebirds" were returning to, Mina and Histoire were having an interesting time looking at the 'Crucial Codes,' ignoring the stares of Adrian in the distance.

"Most intriguing..." Histy thought aloud, gripping her tiny chin. "There's even a cluttered game controller that is interactive... A cheat book capable of twisting reality..."

The scholar's glasses seemed to shine. "Where did three boys get such a powerful item?" This was a peculiar artifact indeed... and a dangerous one at that. But... something about it ignited a certain spark within her otherwise-depressed soul. The thought of actually learning its secrets was... exciting.

The tome fairy, likewise, had a similar opinion... Though, she was more concerned than thrilled. "Why does this feel so familiar? I've never seen such a thing in my life, and yet... I sense..." Planeptune's oracle paused, collecting her scattered thoughts. Could it be? "... myself." Yeah, how abou- Wait, huh? What does that mean?

A confusing concept, isn't it? At least, I assume it is. Since when has Histoire been confused?

However, Mina was too wrapped up in investigating to grow worried at her friend's comment. "... Amazing... Level 1? Why, this book sounds like a skill tree in one of the childrens' games..."

"How goes the investigating, you two? Find out what makes that mystical book work?" Vert's voice pierced the oracles' ears yet again... Something about her tone was always startling ever since she 'revived.'

Histoire's head snapped upwards first, and she immediately nodded. "A-Ah, not yet!" Hand back to her chin again; will this be her standard pose from now on? "This will require in-depth studying before we know anything for sure. Once we're back at the Basilicom, I can properly run some tests."

Lady Green Heart nodded, her eyes closed and her mouth in the shape of some unidentifiable grin. "I see... Well, I believe Kei has already procured a way home, so now it's just a matter of waiting." The transformed goddess gazed over at the tied-up Adrian, his eyes clearly trying to stab her. "He will be taking a separate transport unit straight to the highest-security prison on Leanbox, so don't worry about him. In any case, I doubt he'd ever reveal any secrets of this tome... if he even knows much of anything at all."

"That seems to be the best course of action," the tome fairy agreed. "... And what about those other two? The other boy and that girl with him? They're the only rebels that surrendered to us apparently. No sign of the third boy either, now that I think about it..."

"Heh... I will handle that as soon as the ships get here. Sure, they surrendered, but they still committed crimes against the CPUs..." A... dark smile? Vert's kinda freakin' me out. "... Perhaps they will take the offer that Adrian refused." Is she saying that... she's going to recruit Almaz and Rei Ryghts to her army? Huh... I wonder how that'd play out? Probably a lot of wacky hijinks I'd bet.

Unable to do much else, the two oracles continued to nod like the unoriginal script called for, finding it hard to come up with an appropriate response that amounted to more than 'Okay.' However, Green Heart continued to look at them, certainly creating a most uncomfortable mood. The tome fairy quickly reached her small hand out for the save, placing it softly against the CPU's left shoulder. "... I'm... W-We're glad you are okay, Vert. As oracles, it was our duty to make sure the situation didn't escalate to such a dangerous level... We failed, and let ourselves get too comfortable in what was a highly risky setting, with a threat we were not prepared for... For that, I am sorry. Everyone would be devastated if you had... well..."

The transformed Lady Vert smiled, a bit more heartwarming than terrifying this particular time fortunately. "Why, there's no need to apologize, but thank you regardless. I was too confident and egotistical... I could have ended the battle instantly, but..." Her glowing brows furrowed. "... I opted instead to showboat, and I very nearly paid the ultimate price... I assure you, that will never happen again. I refuse to let it!"

Histoire smiled back, but something made her slowly recede her arm away from the woman's exposed shoulder. Huh, it almost looked as if her hand was slowly heating up. Mina, meanwhile, had one eyebrow raised, and opened her mouth to spea- "Verty, this creep is... er, creeping me out! Can I kick him?" Lady Chika called from behind, her eyes trying hard to avoid Adrian's thousand-yard stare. The goddess chuckled to herself.

"Coming, Chika! Don't humor him; he's just trying to get a reaction!" She turned to look at the two oracles one last time. "Good luck with the cheat tome. Here's hoping that the new airships get here fast, right?" And with that (cheerful?) statement, the CPU ran off to her 'sister.'

The two friends continued staring for a few seconds before turning to each other. Mina managed to say what was on her mind first. "Histoire... Why is Vert still... well, you know? HDD is tiring, and the battle's over... Blanc doesn't even stay transformed for long when she's having a fit."

The tome fairy shook her head. "Yes, something about her is... off indeed. Even more than that, though..." Her eyes gazed at her hand, further concern clearly growing behind those large orbs... Ah, and there we go with the 'orbs' again. "... Perhaps it was just the cheat tome affecting my judgement, but..."

"... But what?"

Staaaaaaaare. "... I felt the same sensation from Vert."

...

Hm... what does that mean?... Oh well; almost done! Let's see here... Now we're to check in on Noire, for... something.

"Noirey~!" Neptune began, perhaps sensing that the focus was now on them... Er, wait, ignore that. "This is sooooo boring!" Biting my tongue. "How's about you call up your sis or Nep Jr. or sumthin'?"

The tsundere looked at her fiancée questioningly. "Weren't you just going through an emotional crisis like 10 minutes ago?... Huh, but fine; should probably call and tell them we're all alive."

"Ooh, and ask them to order pizza!"

"No!" With that, Lady Black Heart flipped out her cell phone and, before anything else, checked her text message app that all the cool and hip kids use nowadays. Not me; I barely have what you could call fingers. "... Well, that's odd... Uni hasn't read my message yet. Ugh, I told her to keep her phone on her at all times! Maybe she's taking a long bath or something..."

"A long bath with Nep Jr? Ooh, scandalous!"

"... I'd hope not in the same bath that Ram and Rom use daily." This conversation is getting weird. "Okay, dialing her now. Bath or no bath, if she hears me calling, she knows better than to ignore me."

And so the phone rang. One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings, and perhaps even a fifth ring (I can't tell from in here, okay? Don't fret the small stuff, geez)... but basic gist of things is, it eventually went straight to voice-mail.

"... She better not be ignoring me." Noire, slight annoyance vein prevalent on her forehead, tried one more futile attempt at reaching her little sister. Same result: no one answered. Surely someone in Lowee's Basilicom, whether Uni was able to or not, would respond to an annoying ringing phone? "... Kei!"

The boyish oracle, busy chatting with Blanc and Sumas oddly enough, professionally turned at the call of Lastation's goddess. "Yes? What is it?"

As Neptune looked on with her mouth in the shape of a confused 'O,' the tsundere scrunched her lips. "Uni's not answering... I texted her way back when we were resting in that small cave, and it says she hasn't even read it."

A realization dawned on the purple-haired ditz. "You're worrying yer panties off! Oh, you're such a good sister, Noire!"

"I-I am NOT worried!" A rosy tint now adorned the goddess' cheeks as she tried to regain composure. "I-I just think that maybe we should call that Jade guy. He should answer, right?"

Kei, face expressionless as always, looked at her CPU for a silent moment before subtly moving her head ever so downwards; one half of a short nod? "... Alright, I was going to call him in a few moments regardless." Yep, more calling... isn't this fun? Reading me read/watch a scene where the characters take out their phones, call someone on their speed-dial lists, and then stand there for the few seconds it takes for the phone to ring the set amount of times before it is inevitably directed to the answering machine? Please, I can't handle all of this artistic writing!

If you couldn't guess what the result of this phone call was, then you clearly haven't been reading... not that I really blame you. Kei attempted three more times, with no different outcome. Not only was Uni not picking up... but neither was Jade, the one guarding the CPU Candidates, and whose sole purpose was to keep in touch with the main party.

The boyish woman looked up, her expression still blank. "... Okay, no one panic..." she trailed off.

Noire put her hand to her own forehead, that cartoonish vein in her forehead pulsing even more now. "... But...?"

"... No one panic, but... we may have another situation on our hands..."

...

What's with this chapter especially with having someone say a somewhat-dramatic line, and then having ellipses and cutting to another scene? It's like it's constantly teasing the end of the chapter, but keeps going... Ugh, I could structure a better chapter, dammit!

But perhaps that was the last one for now. One last thing here, it seems...

So yeah, this turn of events was rather alarming, of course. Why wasn't Jade answering? Hell, no one was answering the general Basilicom phone either! Surely even Ram or Rom would pick it up after a while!

Blanc, understandably, was not taking this well at all. "I knew that asshole would screw things up! He was only interested in smelling my bed, wasn't he? Dammit, I'll kill him!"

"If he's not dead already," Femme laughed. "Figures that Lowee would be a shitty hiding spot. The Candidates would've been safer in a ditch in Leanbox than anywhere over there."

As Blanc threatened to whack the soldier in the head, IF walked up to the oracles to speak her mind. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now! Gear could protect herself if trouble ever popped up, so I'm sure they're all fine. Getting roughed-up off-screen isn't their kind of thing... But, if there is any chance of danger, then we need to take action right away. Worrying about things won't get us anywhere..." She paused for a moment, before flipping out her phone. "Those S.R.A.T.S. ships still aren't here, though, so we need some outside help. Maybe we can send someone to check out the Basilicom? They can relay to us whatever they find."

It was Sumas who amazingly spoke next, perhaps speaking the most she's ever spoken before. "... And what if the Basilicom is overrun? If this was all a ruse for more rebels to take it over? A simple spy won't cut it."

The battled-hardened veteran placed her hand on her hip, her eyes gazing down at her phone still. "Well, in that case, we should send someone capable of sneaking around... Hmm, perhaps someone at the guild ca-"

"... Ugh, I know someone..." The space mercenary sighed, stopping IF's suggestion dead. "... He's a real brat, and I think he's kind of deranged... but if it's potential impromptu espionage we need, then he's the one for the job."

Silence filled the group, maybe because some Nobody they barely knew had suggested a possible plan involving some random tosser they also had no experience with. Still... it was something, right? The whole cast was stuck here until transportation arrived, so either way, some random bob that never received any screen time would have to investigate. Might as well be an alleged 'expert.'

Kei thought for a bit before sighing. She honestly just really wanted this day to be over. "... This person... He can get there fast?"

"Only met him in a crossover, but yeah, he's a professional. Give him a mission? Consider it done."

"... Then call him up. Our hands are tied." And so, it was decided; the group was to call up a complete stranger and tell him to investigate Lowee's Basilicom... y'know, which should've been protected by Jade and his massive Avenir army, as well as the impenetrable walls meant to keep even dragons out. Meanwhile, they'd be waiting for a ride over to Lowee themselves.

... Oh, alright: What could possibly go wrong?

...

While most of the group was concerned about the candidates, one girl in particular was worried about a completely different person.

"Lindy..." Nepgeo whimpered, her nervous eyes staring off into space. If she was paying attention, she would've seen Lady Vert talking to Almaz and Rei, inadvertently distracting them from hearing all the buzz about Jade, but she could frankly care less about people she had no association with at this time. All she could think about was her dear girlfriend, who had been asked by... the dead CFW Judge to head to Lowee. She could only look blindly ahead and twirl her prized necklace in her delicate fingers, trying more than anything to distract herself from the worry. "... Something's happening over there, Lindy... It's not... you, is it?"

But that dangling orange-haired anime girl on her necklace offered little solace.

* * *

><p><strong>Keeper of The Walls<strong>

Gee, this chapter was boring... Guess who else is currently bored, bored, bored!?

"Grr... Dang it, Judge!" Linda groaned, her hands pushing hard against her cheeks... and I mean her face. "What the heck are we standin' around for? It's been hours!" Has it? I can't tell with these stories ever.

The large mech robot thingy-mic-bobber turned his stupid head-esque thing that a baby could tell looked pathetic. "Patience, Linda! The time is almost upon us, just you wait!"

"Time for what!? Those brats are still tied up, we're the only ones here, and I've been pacing the halls of this tacky place for what feels like years! I'm all for waiting if that's what my task is, but how will any of this get Magic back? Maybe if I knew the battle-plan, I'd at least be more motivated!" Gee, someone's cranky.

"... Hmmmm... Fine, very well... I can show you something at least... though revealing the full plan is purely off-limits; please forgive me, faithful Linda. I can never trust who may be listening in on our conversations, after-all..." The CFW dumb-ass spoke, before turning to leave the central lobby of the Basilicom and begin walking towards a large pair of majestic doors. Hmm, if I was a betting man... er, thing, I'd say that these doors lead to some type of throne room... This is kinda a castle, after-all... Ergh, now I'm sounding like him...

The green-haired villain raised an eyebrow at her moving colleague, but she had literally nothing else to do, so she could only follow him. "Show me sumthin'? If you were that boy from earlier, I'd sock ya in the teeth." So trusting today.

Judge didn't reply to that, but instead pushed open the grand, possibly-wooden passageways into the next room. "We are not working alone, Linda."

Underling glanced into the dark room from behind her large teammate, not able to see anything at first. "Er... Yeah, kinda figured that... What the heck's in here? I can't see shit."

The Judge spoke as if she hadn't said anything. "You may not like it at first, but with his help, we shall get Magic back... You'll have to follow all of our orders, however. If he tells you to leap, you ask how high, and all those other trite clichés, understand?"

Linda, understandably, was apprehensive towards this unclear objective. "Er, who are we talkin' about here?"

"By doing everything we say, all will go according to plan. The script will stay on-track, and all the preordained events will go off without a hitch... It all comes down to your cooperation, though. Your faith, your understanding, your willingness to see this whole thing through to the end is the one factor that holds everything together. Without your support, this all will come to a premature end, and nothing will have been accomplished."

"Er, CFW Judge, sir?"

"Please, without you, this all will have been pointless from the very beginning. I beseech you, please!"

... What the hell? It's like he's going... er, I don't know. He's not exactly acting like "Narrator" from long ago... You remember? His bi-polar tendencies as he tried to fight himself? Wow, that feels like a lifetime ago, geez...

Underling's resolve was wavering pretty badly by this point. "J-Judge, yer kinda creeping me out... W-What's in this room? C-C'mon!"

The mech thing gazed into the darkness... and while Linda couldn't tell from where she was standing, his eyes slowly morphed from neon-blue... to red? Take warning? No, wait... it's like they're turning pure black...?

"Look, everyone... He's here! This should inspire some kind of interest back in all of you!"

"E-Everyone? Judge, what the hell are ya blabberi-" But a sudden shift of something in the darkness of the throne room caused her to completely freeze. "... W-What was...?"

"A most surprising guest indeed! Surely this will be a matter deserving of REVIEW, wouldn't you agree? Speak, old friend! Speak for all to hear!" ...? I got nothing.

Whatever was moving in the pitch-black room still hadn't made a single sound, and dear little Linda took a few frightened steps back. "W-Woah, what's in there, Judge? Yer soundin' like a crazy person... And I mean more than usu-"

But a piercing 'laugh' once again sent a paralyzing chill down her spine. "Akekekekekekekekekekekekeke!"

* * *

><p><strong>SHARES:<strong>

**Planeptune- 17%  
>Lastation- 25%<strong>  
><strong>Lowee- 14%<strong>?  
><strong>Leanbox- 8%<strong>  
><strong>(Yellow Bandanas)- 20%<br>?- 16%  
><strong>

**NEXT TIME: They Drop In (To See What Condition Lowee's Condition Was In)  
><strong>


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